2008/664/EC: Commission Decision of 8 August 2008 amending Decision 2005/294/EC concerning a request for derogation under point 2(b) of Annex III to and Article 9 of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (notified under document number C(2008) 4252)

• Published date: 13 August 2008
• Subject Matter: Agriculture and Fisheries,Internal market - Principles,Environment
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 217, 13 August 2008

13.8.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 217/16

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 8 August 2008

amending Decision 2005/294/EC concerning a request for derogation under point 2(b) of Annex III to and Article 9 of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources

(notified under document number C(2008) 4252)

(Only the Danish text is authentic)

(2008/664/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (1), and in particular the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III thereof,

Whereas:

(1) If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from the one specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) thereof, that amount has to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 1 of that Directive and has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as, in the present case, long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

(2) On 18 November 2002, the Commission adopted Decision 2002/915/EC (2) allowing the application of livestock manure containing up to 230 kg of nitrogen per hectare per year on specific cattle holdings within the framework of the Danish action programme 1999-2003. The derogation was extended by Commission Decision 2005/294/EC (3) in connection with the Danish action programme 2004-2007.

(3) On 17 April 2008, Denmark requested a new extension of the derogation. The request was accompanied by a detailed technical motivation.

(4) Danish legislation transposing Directive 91/676/EEC can be considered to be in compliance with Directive and its provisions apply equally to the derogation.

(5) In December 2003 Denmark completed the evaluation of its Second Action Plan on aquatic environment which indicated the achievement of the reduction target for nitrate leaching of 48 % in the period 1985-2003.

(6) The Danish Parliamentary agreement on the Third Action Plan for the Aquatic Environment 2005-2015 sets the objectives for a

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