EU Industrial Emissions Directive

Policy Engagement Overview

The aggregated evidence of corporate and industry lobbying on the Industrial Emissions Directive revision proposal shows negative engagement from the agricultural sector, with positions advocating against the inclusion of livestock under the regulation.

Major agricultural industry associations including Copa-Cogeca and the European Diary Association have opposed measures in the European Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) to tackle methane emissions from livestock.

Copa-Cogeca has consistently opposed measures to tackle methane emissions from the agriculture sector in the IED, notably advocating for weaker thresholds for livestock units that would see fewer farms included in the regulation.

For example, the association stated it was “not desirable” to extend the scope of the IED to cattle and smaller farms in its June 2022 consultation response. Instead, the group suggested that voluntary measures should be focused on, arguing that the agricultural sector’s natural processes hinder its ability to decarbonize and reduce methane emissions. InfluenceMap’s Narrative Tracker analyzes the use of narratives on methane regulation here.

The European Dairy Association opposed the inclusion of cattle rearing to the Industrial Emissions Directive, stating in June 2022 feedback that the inclusion would create an administrative burden and hamper growth on farm investment.

Impacts on Policy Ambition

EU Commission Proposal

The European Commission’s revised proposal for the Industrial Emissions Directive introduced the following measures on methane:

• Inclusion of livestock sector: The EU Commission proposed to include large-scale cattle farming, and additional pig and poultry farms in the regulation. More specifically, all farms with over 150 livestock units (LSU) would be included in the directive.

EU Council Proposal

The EU Council’s Proposal for the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive significantly weakened the ambition of the EU Commission’s proposal with relation to methane.

• Weaker thresholds for livestock farms: The EU Council’s proposal reduced the number of farms included in the scope of the regulation, specifically only including farms with livestock units (LSU) numbers larger than 350 LSU for cattle and pigs, 280 LSU for poultry and 350 LSU for mixed farms. The proposal also stated that it would progressively apply the regulation starting with the largest farms.

EU Parliament Committee Proposal

The EU Parliament's Environmental Committee proposal for the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive reduced the ambition of the EU Commission's proposal with relation to methane.

• Weaker thresholds for livestock farms: The EU Parliament’s proposal reduced the number of farms included in the scope of the regulation, specifically only including farms with livestock units (LSU) numbers over 200 LSU for poultry and pigs, 300 LSU for cattle and 250 LSU for mixed farms.