‘Best available techniques’ as a mandatory basic standard for more sustainable agricultural land use in Europe?

Substance emissions resulting from modern agriculture in the European Union (EU) affect the entire environment and are no less harmful than those caused by industrial installations. Even so, the EU requires only industrial installations, which include large intensive livestock holdings, to use the best available techniques (BAT). Agricultural land use, by contrast, needs simply to meet the standard of tried-and-tested technologies and generally accepted farming methods (good practice). This paper seeks to add a new perspective to existing political debates and scientific investigations by questioning the adequacy of existing regulatory requirements concerning agricultural land use and proposing that the BAT-Standard should be applied to agricultural land use, especially for high-input-farms. Were the BAT standard to be applied to agricultural land use, those techniques and farming methods which are most advanced and efficient in preventing environmental emissions, and so most effectively help to achieve a generally high level of protection of the environment as a whole, would have priority by law. The paper discusses which techniques and methods might meet these criteria by looking at four examples: conservation tillage, integrated pest protection, precision farming and organic farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]