The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €105 million Dutch scheme to compensate livestock farmers for voluntarily relocating their activities from nature conservation areas in the Netherlands to another location in the Netherlands or in the rest of the EU.

The objective of the scheme is to reduce the nitrogen deposition caused by farming activities in overburdened Natura 2000 sites in the light of the conservation objectives and requirements of the Habitats Directive.

The scheme, which will run until July 2029, will be open to small and medium-sized livestock farmers in the Netherlands that voluntarily relocate their breeding activities, provided that their sites' nitrogen deposition load amounts to at least 2.500 moles of nitrogen per year.

Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants, and will cover up to 100% of the eligible costs, such as the costs directly linked to the carrying out of a feasibility study on relocation, costs for dismantling, removal, re-building, or takeover of other existing facilities, and of returning the abandoned site to the environmentally satisfactory state.

The Commission assessed the scheme under EU State Aid rules, in particular under Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which allows Member States to support the development of certain economic activities under certain conditions, and the 2022 Guidelines for State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas. The Commission found that the scheme is necessary and appropriate to achieve the objective pursued, namely the sustainable and environmentally friendly development of livestock farming, while supporting the objectives of the European Green Deal. Furthermore, the Commission concluded that the scheme is proportionate, as it is limited to the minimum necessary, and will have a limited impact on competition and trade in the EU. On this basis, the Commission approved the Dutch scheme under EU State aid rules.

The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.111058 in the State aid register on the Commission's competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.