There are currently four pieces of legislation that are relevant to EU nitrate levels
In addition, the EU will soon present its Livestock Strategy, as part of a broader Vision for Agriculture and Food. One goal is to build a strategy that fits the already existing pieces of legislation relevant to animal farming, including those related to nitrate levels.
The Nitrates Directive was designed specifically to target nitrates pollution from agriculture. The directive requires Member States to identify all waters that are polluted or at risk of pollution. These include groundwater bodies with nitrate concentrations exceeding, or at risk of exceeding, 50 mg NO3/L, as well as surface waters that are eutrophic or at-risk of eutrophication. The land areas draining into these affected water bodies are then designated as “Nitrate Vulnerable Zones”.
In these zones, Member States must adopt “action programmes” controlling fertiliser and manure use. A core rule has been that livestock manure application must not exceed 170 kg nitrogen per hectare per year, unless a derogation is granted, which then allows application up to 250 kg N/ha/year.
As the Netherlands’ derogation was phased out last year, Ireland is now the only country with a derogation. However, other parts of the Nitrates Directive have being compromised.
The Water Framework Directive provides the wider framework to achieve good status of surface and groundwater bodies. It counts nitrate pollution relevant to both chemical and ecological status, and sets a deadline of 2027 to reach this aim.
The Drinking Water Directive and Groundwater Directive set a 50 mg NO3/L nitrate standard for drinking water and groundwater respectively – following the World Health Organisation guidance, and health concerns.
Beyond nitrates pollution and water, there are other pieces of legislation attempting to regulate industrial animal production. We describe those in this briefing.
Next to the existing legal frameworks, the European Commission is trying to build a strategy to fit the different pieces of legislation mentioned above, and others more broadly related to animal farming.
In February 2025, the European Commission presented its Vision for Agriculture and Food, guided by dialogue with farmers, food businesses and other stakeholders across the value chain.
In May 2025, they launched the Livestock Workstream – a series of debates attended mainly by representatives of the livestock sector – to develop policy pathways to support the sector in becoming more *crisis-resilient, globally competitive and fully sustainable and to reflect European territorial diversity*. In addition, the Commission also gathered around 900 contributions in a call to evidence. The outcome of the Workstream will be the publication of a Livestock Strategy, expected on 7 July 2026.
From the information we have, the strategy will focus mainly on economic sustainability and resilience, looking to open new markets for European products, prioritising techofixes and leaving member states the flexibility to act. Despite the ever growing damage caused by industrial animal production to water, animal welfare, and local communities, we do not expect the EU Commission to seriously confront the the drivers of factory farming, or meaningfully tackle the sector’s major health, social and environmental impacts.
More civil society groups’ perspectives on what this strategy needs to deliver:
