Prandini: cattle farms outside the directive on industrial emissions

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Narrow escape for Italian farmers. The decision to leave cattle farms out of the new directive on industrial emissions saves a key sector of Made in Italy and meets the requests of Coldiretti which was the first to denounce the scientific absurdity of comparing stables to factories and launched an awareness campaign , explained the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini in commenting on the decision of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament which voted by a very large majority the exclusion of cattle and the stop to further charges for pigs and poultry from the new EU regulation.

The risks for the sector

The pronouncement of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament goes against the European Commission’s proposal to expand the covered activities to cattle farms of 150 heads and up, which – underlines Prandini – could lead to the loss of jobs with the closure of many farms of medium-small size, undermining food sovereignty, with the consequent increase in dependence on imports of animal products from third countries, which have much lower environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards than those imposed on EU farmers. Or, even worse, and to push towards the development of synthetic foods in test tubes, from meat to synthetic foods milk. Equating livestock farming, even of small/medium size, to industrial activities – continues the president of Coldiretti – appears unfair and misleading with respect to the role they play in environmental balance and food safety in Europe. It is moreover – Prandini points out – an ideological approach based on inaccurate and old data which must be stigmatized, also because it could have negative impacts on the environment with the loss of biodiversity, landscapes and depopulation of rural areas. The choice not to impose further burdens on pig and poultry farms – adds Prandini – goes to recognize the efforts that farmers are making to increase the sustainability of their companies which, on a global scale, are already those that record the best performances in terms of environmental impact and climate change mitigation. The Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament has also voted – notes Coldiretti – the elimination of the aggregation rule which would potentially have the effect of increasing the number of companies, especially medium-small ones, subject to the emissions directive.