Overview

• Judges found the current Düngeverordnung insufficient to meet obligations under EU nitrate rules.
• The Federal Ministry of Agriculture must first prepare a national action programme to protect waters from agricultural nitrate.
• The programme will then be incorporated into consultations for amendments to the fertiliser ordinance.
• Deutsche Umwelthilfe brought the case and won on revision after an earlier loss in Münster, recorded as Az. 10 C 1.25.
• The EU Nitrates Directive requires action programmes updated every four years, with German monitoring showing one in four sites over the limit in 2020–2022.