THE EUROPEAN Commission has denied it will introduce a tax on cows in Ireland to help meet our commitments to cut emissions. The director of its Dublin office Martin Territt said to suggest otherwise was to deliberately mislead the public.
The Irish Timesreported on Monday that discussions had taken place within the Department of the Environment about the cost of off-setting methane produced by Irish livestock and the likely revenues produced by a levy.Reducing the size of the national herd "could have serious impacts on economic and social life in rural areas", according to a departmental memo released under the Freedom of Information Act.
In a statement yesterday, however, Mr Territt said there was absolutely no suggestion from the commission of introducing such a tax in Ireland or anywhere else. “To suggest otherwise is to deliberately mislead the public. Let me repeat, this story is unfounded and untrue,” said Mr Territt. “The European Commission has no powers to propose taxes of this nature to member states. Only member-state governments have competence to develop their own national strategies on reducing emissions – not Brussels.”
He said that in meeting the challenge of emissions in the agricultural sector, it was commission policy to encourage more research on, for example, the composition of animal feed.
“The promotion of renewable energy and biogas in particular will be key in reducing emissions from livestock,” he said.