Nitrates Derogation Decision for Ireland
Dear Environment,
On 22 December 2025, the EU Commission issued an Implementing Decision (C(2025) 9263 final) amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/696 granting a derogation requested by
Ireland pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters
against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources ("the Decision").
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:
All documents, reports, environmental assessments, information, representations and data of whatever nature considered by the Commission, including the 'Nitrates Committee' established under Article 9 of Council Directive 91/676/EEC, which should include but not be limited to the following:
The data Ireland provided in the context of the reporting obligation set out in Article
10 of Directive 91/676/EEC referred to at recital 11 to the Decision.
Data published in August 2025 by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency for the
2022-2024 referred to at recital 12 to the Decision.
The report sent by Ireland on 8 August 2025 to the Commission in accordance with Article 17 of Directive 92/43/EEC.
The study published by Teagasc in September 2025 referred to at Recital 22 to the Decision.
The opinion of the Nitrates Committee established by Article 9 of Directive 91/676/EEC referred to at recital 30 to the Decision
Regards,
Eoin Brady
Solicitor
FP Logue LLP
Lenin House
Rear 25 Strand Street
Dublin 1
Ireland
Dear Sir or Madam,
We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your request for access to documents
sent on 16/01/2026 and registered on 19/01/2026 under the case number
2026/0348.
We will handle your request within 15 working days as of the date of
registration. The time-limit expires on 09/02/2026. We will let you know
if we need to extend this time limit for additional 15 working days.
To find more information on how we process your personal data, please see
[1]the privacy statement.
Yours faithfully,
Directorate-General for Environment - Access to Documents
European Commission
References
Visible links
1. https://ec.europa.eu/info/principles-and...
Dear Sir,
We are writing concerning your request for access to Commission documents
registered on 19 Janury 2026 under case number EASE 2026/0348.
We are currently working on your request. However, we have not yet been
able to gather all the elements necessary to carry out a full analysis of
your request. We will not be able to send you the reply within the
prescribed time limit expiring on 9 February 2026.
Therefore, in line with Article 7(3) of [1]Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
we need to extend this time limit by 15 additional working days. The new
time limit expires on 2 March 2026.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kind regards,
ENV.D1
References
Visible links
1. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/...