"Hands off our soil" - Allister tells EU

05 September 2008

In a debate in the European Parliament on the prospect of an EU Soil Directive, Jim Allister MEP robustly reiterated his outright opposition to such a move.

The Commission has been pressing for a Regulation on soil management for some time. Happily, the proposal has been stalled by a blocking minority in the Council of Ministers, but the Commission and some from the Environmental Committee in the Parliament are persisting with the fight.

Speaking in the debate the Euro MP said:-

"Of course soil protection is necessary, but what is not necessary is another EU Directive. We already have a plethora of Directives touching on this subject, as well as a legion of rules in cross-compliance. We don't need any more.

Moreover, this is a member state issue - what nation is going to let its soil erode and degrade, indeed what farmer, unless Brussels tells them what to do? The thing is ludicrous!

More Brussels nannying will only add to the already intolerable administrative burden on farmers, whose time to look after their land is increasingly diminished by the time taken to fill in foolish and needless forms.

So, I say to the Commission, break the habit of a lifetime and forget it!"

Agriculture and Environment