Nitrates fine only €100 a day
Breaches are summary offences in the European Communities Act 1972, under which the Regulations were made last week. But the Regulations will eventually be re-made under primary Irish legislation, as required by the European Commission and Court of Justice.
This week’s agreement on the Regulations has also staved off a legal threat to the Government, with Environment Minister Dick Roche saying it should largely remove the prospect of further proceedings before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which found Ireland non-compliant with the Nitrates Directive in March, 2004, and running the risk of daily fines, a substantial lump sum fine, and threatened EU financing of agricultural support schemes.
