Ministers agree EU fertiliser law reform

EU governments this week agreed a reform of the bloc's messy system of laws regulating fertilisers, merging a series of existing directives into a single regulation. The accord also confirms derogations allowing Austria, Sweden and Finland to maintain tighter controls on cadmium content until the European Commission proposes harmonised EU limits (EED 22/05/02).

The ministers were meeting on Monday in the newly named "competitiveness council", which draws together dossiers formerly treated by the now-defunct internal market, industry and research councils. They endorsed a rationalisation of fertiliser legislation proposed by the European Commission last year (EED 17/09/01).