DAFC: All in all, the Tripartite Agreement is a victory

 A broad majority in the Danish Parliament supports the Green Tripartite Agreement in its entirety and has entered into a political framework agreement, which revisits the water environment initiative that was agreed as part of the agricultural agreement in 2021.  The water environment initiative also takes neighbouring countries’ emissions into account. The basic framework conditions for the future of agriculture are therefore in place.

The Danish Agriculture & Food Council welcomes the political framework agreement.  

"I’m proud of the agreement we entered into in June and I’m, of course, delighted that it has now been confirmed by a broad political majority that supports the agreement in its entirety, while also acknowledging its comprehensive scope and balanced approach. It’s of crucial importance that the agreement has now – five months on - finally secured political backing in the Danish parliament. We have a huge task ahead of us, and farmers have already started to tackle the challenges,” says Søren Søndergaard, Chair of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council.

On 24 June 2024, the Green Tripartite concluded the 'Agreement on a Green Denmark', which sets the course of action for future food production and presents a new greener map of Denmark.  The Danish government, which was also party to the original tripartite negotiations, has now concluded a political framework agreement with the Liberal Alliance, The Socialist People’s Party, the Conservative People’s Party and the Danish Social Liberal Party.

"We welcome the fact that the government and the parties have built in a guarantee of intercalibration in their choice of scenario, which stipulates that Swedish and German emissions must be taken into account. This will ensure that we work towards the same environmental goals in the areas where we literally share waters. This has been of major concern to us over many years, and it is now recognised by the parties to the agreement,” says Søren Søndergaard.

The Tripartite Agreement consists of more than just objectives and calculations. It incorporates a new mechanism for working with climate and environment issues as well as new structures – both at the municipal level and with the Ministry for Green Tripartite Cooperation – to ensure a more rapid pace on the part of the authorities. This is much needed according to the Danish Agriculture & Food Council:

"Nature, the climate and good farming practice will all be winners when we replace outdated water environment initiatives and all their malfunctions with new approaches. When bureaucracy and waiting times are reduced to kickstart new climate mitigation measures, and when desk-bound solutions are replaced with local action. Denmark is now pulling in the same direction – and that’s a great strength,” says Søren Søndergaard.

Firm DAFC imprint from the Tripartite Agreement remains in force

At the annual Delegates’ meeting of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, which was held last week, the Chairman of DAFC criticised the recent political uproar over the framework agreement.

"What we’ve been witnessing in recent months has concerned me and has only confirmed that we were right to take part in the original tripartite negotiations. We’ve had a significant impact on the outcome”.  

Three prerequisites were decisive in DAFC agreeing to the Tripartite Agreement concluded in June:

"We had to ensure that a future CO2 tax would not adversely impact the livelihood of climate-efficient Danish farmers. We needed a water environment initiative that works and is locally anchored, one that is based on long-term land use planning rather than inefficient field regulation. Thirdly, our members needed to be clear about their basic framework conditions for more than just 10 minutes at a time. All three prerequisites remain firm DAFC imprints, and they still apply now that a political framework has been reached.”

Søren Søndergaard is particularly grateful to the government and the Liberal Alliance for focusing on the balances in the original Tripartite Agreement.

"Fortunately, a broad majority in the Danish Parliament has seen and proved that a strong food industry and an ambitious green transition are not diametrically opposed to each other. The farming community knows this – as do most people in the Danish Parliament.  I would like to acknowledge this and pay tribute to the government’s negotiators and to the Liberal Alliance party who, it has to be said, took the lead in this respect.

Water environment: two steps forwards, one step back

Under the new political framework agreement, the parties have addressed the need for action and scenario choice in the water plans. The goals are now in place, with the mechanism and approach to the work already defined in the original Tripartite Agreement.  

"It’s important that we adopt a new approach to working with the water environment. Local land use planning, wetlands and lowland projects should become the driving force rather than restrictive regulation of our fields. We have all witnessed the failure of the previous approach. We’re now aiming for robust solutions that will roll back the bureaucracy governing our fields,” says Søren Søndergaard. 

The parties to the agreement have decided that, in the short-term, Denmark will plan according to the nitrogen targets under the so-called Scenario 1. This is a choice DAFC disagrees with because these targets conflict with the EU's common environmental goals for the more open coastal waters in Denmark, where the majority of the nitrogen load comes from our neighbouring countries.

"Professionalism takes a hit when water plans are over-implemented. This is a political decision that we don’t understand. We’re going to waste a lot of resources pursuing environmental goals that we can’t achieve when neighbouring countries do not follow the same goals.” 

Leading European experts have therefore advised Denmark to follow the common EU environmental goals, which form the basis for the so-called scenario 3.

"The so-called intercalibration is therefore a momentous victory for us. In other words, that we take an international approach to the water environment so that we do not fight in vain for good ecological conditions in the many places where external impacts play a major role. It’s a very positive step that over-implementation now has an end date. Under the agreement, by 2029 at the latest, our water plans must comply with the common EU environmental targets in open waters. We can then focus our resources on reducing nitrogen emissions in the more enclosed fjords where Danish emissions have a much greater impact on the water environment.” 

Søren Søndergaard is referring here to the international focus that was agreed in the original Tripartite Agreement, which has been translated into an intercalibration guarantee in the recently adopted political framework agreement.

"Nobody is in any doubt that we must achieve our objectives. The conditions of our fjords and seas must improve. And as for farming, we’ll do our part. But the political decision to tighten the grip - unnecessarily - on more water catchments will have serious consequences. Not least around the Little Belt and Funen. Here, the requirements - at least until the intercalibration is completed - will be unnecessarily rigorous and unnecessarily expensive. This will complicate land use planning for years to come.

"Nevertheless, I can only be satisfied with the decisive difference our participation has made. The alternative to a tripartite agreement with broad political support would have been a great blow to the industry. Overall, therefore, the agreement is a victory for good farming practice, the climate, nature and the environment.”