Danish carbon tax on agriculture, a model for the rest of Europe or a splendid one-off?

The question of how to reduce emissions from agriculture remains very much open, and the clock is ticking for the EU to become carbon neutral by 2050.

In 2021, Denmark’s national parliament approved a binding target of 55 to 65 per cent emissions cuts from the agriculture sector, which is expected to account for almost half of Denmark’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2030. 

Copenhagen decided to get down to business and started doing the maths in 2022.  

After months of negotiations, the Nordic country unveiled a plan on Monday (24 June) to put a price on greenhouse gases emitted by cows, sheep, and pigs.  

The proposed law was born from an agreement between the government and “the Green Tripartite” – made up of farmers, the food industry, and environmental groups – and is expected to be approved by the Danish parliament later this year. 

The initiative would then become the world’s first ‘carbon’ tax on agriculture. 

From 2030, livestock farmers in Denmark would have to pay a fee of 300 Danish krone (about €40) per tonne of CO2, with revenue used to support the greening of the industry – along with additional funds. 

The actual cost to farmers, however, will be reduced by a basic tax break meant to limit the impact of the measure on production costs. 

In the long run, the most climate-efficient farms could be close to paying no tax, according to the agreement.

While the Green Tripartite was set up to “lead the way and be an example for other countries,” it is uncertain whether we will see other EU member states taxing agricultural emissions, at least in the near future.   

For Christian Hoegh, a Danish farmer and vice-president of EU farmers association Cogeca, the proposed tax is not “one size fits all” but an inspiration for others. 

“The model is based on the challenges we face in Denmark,” he told Euractiv.  

Despite its small size, the country is a pork and dairy export giant, devoting most of its land to intensive agriculture.

Max Schulman, a Finnish farmer and senior advisor to Finland’s Farmers Organisation (MTK), told Euractiv that the Danish agreement is a good example of how to involve and support the farming sector in the green transition. 

“But different member states have different needs,” he said, adding that other countries that do not face such high pressure from livestock emissions have other needs, such as preserving peatlands.

After the wave of farmers’ protests that shook the EU earlier this year – and with the alleged administrative and economic burdens of EU green policies being at the heart of the rallies – it remains to be seen whether taxing food producers would be welcomed.  

An Emission Trading System (ETS) for agriculture has been a buzzword in Brussels for some time now. 

In February, EU lawmakers reached a provisional agreement on an EU-level carbon certification framework to create systems to remunerate farmers for practices that store CO2 or reduce emissions from soils. But these are voluntary. An ETS is mandatory, forcing polluters to pay.

The climate advisory group established by the 2021 European Climate Law urged the introduction of such a system.  

Influential think tanks such as Bruegel said that an ETS-3 for agriculture should flank and then converge – by 2040 – with the current ETS-1 covering energy and industry sectors and the newly established ETS-2 for road transport and buildings.

The directorate general for climate of the European Commission supported a study to investigate ways to translate these ideas into reality, with the creation of an Agri-ETS.

The authors investigated five policy scenarios but also highlighted that the establishment of any of them should be accompanied by wide changes in the agricultural sector and in economy in general.

We will have to wait and see whether the Copenhagen Agri-ETS example is replicable elsewhere in Europe or Denmark will be a splendid one-off.

Nibbles of the week 

Spat over subsidies breaks EU consensus on future of farming. EU ministers failed to reach unanimity in their conclusions on the future of agriculture at a meeting on Monday (24 June) due to a disagreement over the distribution of farming subsidies among member states. 

The text was endorsed by 25 member states, while Romania voted against and Slovakia abstained.  

EU split on deregulating gene-edited food as Council deadlock persists. A discussion on a final proposal by the Belgian Council Presidency to resolve the deadlock on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) legislation was removed from Wednesday’s (26 June) EU ambassadors’ meeting agenda as it failed to convince some member states, notably Poland. 

The decision came after EU governments could not reach the necessary majority to adopt a common position on NGT rules, sources from the Belgian Presidency told Euractiv. 

The draft legislation is likely to be stalled at the Council for at least a year, as the Hungarian and Polish presidencies are expected to make little progress on the file. 

Commission and member states consider new restrictions on acrylamide. National and EU experts are discussing new legally binding limits for acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance that can form in starchy foods when cooked at high temperatures, EU sources told Euractiv. The discussions are at a technical level, the sources added, with an outcome expected in the second half of the year. 

COPA and COGECA appoint new secretary general. The members of the two Brussels-based farming organisations, which represent European farmers and cooperatives, respectively, appointed Elli Tsiforou to replace Pekka Pesonen as head of their joint General Secretariat. The Greek farmer is the first woman to hold the position since the secretariat’s creation in 1962.

Russia undermines EU efforts to restore Baltic fish stocks, ministers warn. EU countries slammed Russia for overfishing in the Baltic Sea, a region that has seen its fish stocks decline dramatically in recent years, during a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH). 

Member states agree on EU-wide rules for the welfare of cats and dogs. EU countries reached a common position on the bloc’s first legislation on the welfare of cats and dogs. The European Commission proposed last December minimum standards for cats and dogs kept by breeders, selling establishments, and shelters to harmonise welfare requirements across Europe. 

German farmers’ association slams government relief package. In response to the farmer protests that rocked Europe earlier this year, the governing parliamentary groups in Germany have agreed to introduce a relief package for the agriculture sector, amid dissatisfaction from the country’s farmers organisation. 

EU secures US market access for plant exports from 21 member states. The US recognised these countries as free from the Asian and Citrus long-horned beetles, allowing Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands to export plants without stem diameter restrictions. The other 18 states can also export under new conditions. 

The EU continues to seek similar status for Finland, Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, and Italy. In 2023, EU plant exports to the US were valued at over €36 million. 

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and ]

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