German Farmers Association (DBV) criticizes the amendment to the Water Resources Law parallel to the change in the Fertilizers Ordinance that came into effect on May 1, 2020. Steffen Pingen, Head of the Department of Environment / Rural Area of ​​the German Farmers Association as part of the expert hearing on the amendment to the Water Resources Law in the Environment Committee of the German Bundestag of May 25, 2020, criticizes the fact that the general law prohibits strip cultivation agriculture 5 meters wide in all water bodies in Germany with a slope of 5%, which contradicts the demand of the EU Commission for differentiated and specific water protection.

Agriculture is already voluntarily creating riparian waters through agri-environment programs and greening European agricultural policy. Pingen emphasizes that the loss of eligibility for cooperative water protection and the lack of justification for the ECJ's judgment is not acceptable from an agricultural perspective. In addition, Pingen criticized the inadequate assessment of the impact of the new strips on water in terms of area and the economic impact on farms, which were only partially calculated by the Federal Government. Losses due to loss of crop yields and breakdown of subsidies through agri-environment programs had not been sufficiently taken into account if, due to the planned legal obligation to plant vegetation, it is no longer possible to grow water in strips 5m wide by law, and the loss of income and resulting costs can no longer be rewarded through support programs.

In the context of its statement before the German Bundestag, the DBV also criticizes in the context of the current situation that further tightening of the water law is now being addressed. The DBV therefore calls for the amendment to be suspended and for the new fertilizer law to take effect in practice. If the German government sticks to your project, the planned regulations must be urgently reviewed.