Environment groups are considering legal action

The Irish Examiner

By Stephen Cadogan
Irish environmental campaigning groups have made formal complaints, and will consider legal action to ensure environmental law is implemented during agricultural expansion, for example Food Harvest 2020 (FH2020).
This is the plan to increase primary food output by 33%, food value-added by 40%, and food exports by 42%, between now and 2020.

The European Commission has told the Irish environmental campaigners it has initiated an enquiry to seek information from the Government. This is the procedure followed by the commission when complaints are received, says Tony Lowes, director, Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), who co-ordinated a call by 14 Irish non-governmental environmental organisations to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, to ensure the ambitious FH2020 targets are formally assessed under EU directives before they are adopted.

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