The Dutch government has formally adopted its plan to push back the country’s nitrogen emissions target from 2030 to 2035, a move that risks legal challenge in the Dutch courts and the European Commission over compliance with EU environmental law. The plan includes €2.2 billion in funding to buy out or relocate livestock farmers near protected Natura 2000 sites, along with a proposed shift from nitrogen deposition thresholds to emissions caps at the farm level. 

Agriculture Minister Femke Wiersma, meanwhile, insisted the Netherlands cannot afford to lose more farmers. Greenpeace and other green groups argue the plan still falls short of what the courts require and are not ruling out further legal action.

The JRC Drought in Europe – April 2025 report outlines that low rainfall, dry soils, and shrinking rivers are pressuring ecosystems, farming, and transport routes across Europe and neighbouring regions. These conditions are a result of warmer-than-average weather and lower precipitation across much of the continent since the beginning of the year. With forecasts showing drier-than-average conditions in northern and western Europe, there are growing concerns about the impact on agriculture river transport, and ecosystems. In central, eastern, south-eastern and the eastern Mediterranean region, there are broadening warning drought conditions. Similar conditions are emerging in north-western Europe. Large parts of the Mediterranean and the Middle East remain under warning and alert drought conditions. In contrast, most of Portugal, Spain, western and central France experienced a rainy winter, with northern Italy having a wetter start of the spring.  

At the request of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food & Agriculture (BMEL), the European Commission has promised financial aid for farmers affected by FMD. The extraordinary market measure, provided for in the CMO Regulation on compensation for the market effects of disease, is expected to be provided to dairy and pig producers affected. The Commission is currently drawing up an implementing regulation which will set out the exact amount of aid. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) reinstated the status of "free from FMD without vaccination" for the whole of Germany on 14 April 2025.

Are you a European farmer using digital tools on your farm? This anonymous survey is part of a research project exploring farmers’ needs, concerns, and wants around digital tools. The goal is to highlight farmers perspectives in a discussion often dominated by non-farmer stakeholders. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and your insights will contribute to European project outcomes and EU policy recommendations. Take the survey here: https://forms.gle/A1vAVY1oD6S9rTfV9.

For any questions about the study or the survey, please contact the researcher at: [email protected].