[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

Bavarian farmer puts nappies on his cows in EU protest

I followed the link - was quite interesting. The bit that made me chuckle though was this :

The European Commission has denied the EU responsibility and pointed to how Germany has implemented the legislation.

The commission has begun legal action against Germany for failing to enforce the EU directive which restricts "land application of fertilisers to steeply sloping ground, to avoid leaching of nitrates and water pollution".

"The nitrates directive does not foresee a ban on grazing animals on sloping land," said a spokesman.

"Germany is revising its national nitrates action programme. However, it is not likely that the German authorities will propose any ban on grazing animals on sloping land."

A Brussels source added: "Bavarian farmers should raise this issue with the German Federal authorities in Berlin, rather than with the Commission in Brussels."

So often this is the case. Big headlines about what the crazy Eurocrats are up to now - except that the original legislation wasn't that crazy at all and nobody was suggesting that farmers can't graze their cattle on hillsides.

You can almost here the resigned sigh when the spokesperson says "Bavarian farmers should raise this issue with the German Federal authorities in Berlin, rather than with the Commission in Brussels."