Commission welcomes provisional agreement on modernising management of industrial emissions

The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached last night between the European Parliament and the Council strengthening the current provisions for emissions from industry and large intensive rearing farms.

The updated law will help guide industrial investments necessary for Europe's transformation towards a cleaner, carbon neutral, more circular and competitive economy by 2050. It will spur innovation, reward frontrunners, and help level the playing field on the EU market and increase long-term investment certainty for industry. 

New measures for a less polluting and carbon neutral industry, more innovation and transparency 

Once adopted and applied, the new law will more effectively limit polluting emissions from industrial installations. Compared to the directive currently in force, the new law will cover additional sources of emissions, make permitting more effective, reduce administrative costs, increase transparency, and give more support to breakthrough technologies and other innovative approaches. The revised law will also tighten rules on granting derogations to further protect the environment and human health.

The updated rules will also provide more opportunities to EU innovation frontrunners who will be able to test more environmentally performing emerging techniques thanks to more flexible permits. A new Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) will help industry identify pollution control solutions and transformative technologies. Finally, operators of industrial installations will need to develop Transformation Plans to achieve the EU's 2050 zero pollution, circular economy and decarbonisation goals, and will benefit from flexible permits to implement deeply transformative techniques.

The updated law will also support circular economy investments by including resource use performance levels, as well as lower chemical pollution through requirements for a reduced use of toxic chemicals during industrial processes.

The new law will cover more installations, notably:

• More large-scale intensive livestock farms. Under the new rules, the largest pig and poultry farms would be covered, while the inclusion of cattle farms would be assessed in a review at a later stage. As farms have simpler operations than industrial plants, all farms covered will benefit from a lighter permitting regime also reflecting the size of farms as well as the livestock density.
• Extraction of metals and large-scale production of batteries. These activities will significantly expand in the EU to enable the green and digital transitions. The governance mechanisms of the revised Industrial Emissions Directive will support the sustainable growth of these activities in the EU, thus contributing to the objectives of the Critical Raw Material and Net-Zero Industry Acts.

Finally, the improved measures on penalties and opportunities for citizens to seek compensation will increase transparency and public participation in the permitting process, and will reinforce environmental governance and enforcement. With the new EU Industrial Emissions Portal, citizens will be able to access data on permits issued anywhere in Europe and gain insight into polluting activities in their immediate surroundings in a simple way.

Next steps

The European Parliament and the Council will now have to formally adopt the revised Industrial Emissions Directive and the new Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation in line with the agreement reached. Once formally adopted, they will enter into force on the 20^th day following publication in the Official Journal.

Once the revised Industrial Emissions Directive enters into force, Member States will have 22 months to implement the new rules. Before the Industrial Emissions Portal Regulation becomes law, the Commission will work on reporting manuals and secondary acts so that the operators and Member States are ready to report under the new regime in 2028.

Background

The Industrial Emissions Directive currently covers some 50 000 large industrial installations and intensive livestock farms in Europe. These installations need to comply with emissions conditions by applying activity-specific ‘Best Available Techniques'. These techniques are determined together by industry, national and Commission experts, and civil society.

For More Information

Proposal to update the Industrial Emissions Directive (from 05 April 2022)

Questions and answers on the proposal (from 05 April 2022)

Webpage on the Industrial Emissions Directive