On 19 September 2025, Member States in the Nitrates Committee endorsed a proposal to raise the legal limit of nitrogen applied on farmland for fertilisers known as “RENURE”, a type of processed manure. The text, which amends the long-standing Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC), would allow the application of RENURE up to 80kg of nitrogen per hectare on top of the normal limit of 170kg/ha. This would amount to raising the legal limit by 47%.
EurEau strongly opposes the creation of such a loophole in the Nitrates Directive, a text whose entire purpose is to protect water resources by preventing their pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources. Nitrates are the pollutants that most commonly cause poor chemical status in water bodies, being the predominant groundwater pollutant throughout the EU. This has a massive impact on water resources used for human consumption, given that groundwater is the most important drinking water source for EurEau members. In many places, drinking water operators are forced to mix raw water of different sources to comply with the nitrates standard of 50 mg/L of the Drinking Water Directive, build, rebuild or close wells or use technically complex and cost-intensive water treatment processes.
Whether nitrates come from RENURE or other fertiliser types makes no difference to water bodies. The use of RENURE fertilisers should be allowed only as a substitute to manure or synthetic fertilisers, not in addition to them.
It is startling that this change, which amounts to a significant revision of the Nitrates Directive, is being made with no impact assessment, even as the Evaluation of the Directive is ongoing.
The text will now be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for a three-month scrutiny period. We urge MEPs and Member States to reject any increase in the legal limit of nitrogen per hectare.