UK claims victory in Europe

Proposals for a "Soils Directive", that would have added significantly to the regulatory burden on farming for no perceptible environmental gain, have been thrown out by the EU Council of Ministers, following a sustained campaign by the NFU.

The crucial vote took place on Thursday, December 20, when France joined the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, to block the Directive, resulting in its rejection.

NFU president, Peter Kendall, said: "This has been a long, and at times, lonely battle, to bring common-sense to bear and reject a proposal that would have brought nothing to the countryside except yet more unnecessary red tape. We are grateful to Defra and their Brussels negotiating team for having had the courage to ensure that the principles of 'better regulation' are applied in practice, and for leading the opposition to the Directive in the Council.

"Throughout the negotiations the NFU remained deeply concerned about the proposals and constantly and forcefully lobbied for them to be rejected. We were steadfast in our repeated calls to Defra, the European Commission and the European Parliament for the proposals to be thrown out, right up to the eve of the Council meeting when I met with the Portuguese Minister, Francisco Nunes Correia.