EU adopts new standards to curb emissions from large pig and poultry farms

The European Commission has formalised a set of rules that establish common minimum standards for large poultry and pig farms throughout the European Union. These standards, embedded in the Industrial Emissions Directive, require farms to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants including ammonia, nitrogen and phosphorus, substances linked to respiratory illnesses and environmental degradation. The regulation will be applied at the farm level from 2030 to 2032, with timing varying by the size of each operation, and it targets about 30% of the EU’s largest pig and poultry farms.

The Commission presented the framework as part of a broader effort to simplify industrial emissions rules and to address nitrogen pollution affecting air, water and soil. Brussels considers the new directive a critical step toward improving environmental quality across member states.