L 130[42 Official Journal of the European Communities 12.5.2001 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 21 December 2000 on the exemption from mineral levies under the manure law which the Netherlands intends to grant (notified under document number C(2000) 4404) (Only the Dutch version is authentic) (2001/371/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provision cited above (!), Whereas: I. PROCEDURE By letter dated 7 October 1999, registered on 13 October 1999, the Netherlands notified the Commission of certain exemptions to the mineral levies which have been introduced by the manure law. By letters dated 10 January 2000, registered on 12 January 2000, it provided the Commission with further information. By letter dated 20 March 2000, the Commission informed the Netherlands that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the proposed exemptions to the mineral levies. The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Communi- ties (}). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the aid. The Commission received no comments from interested parties. The Dutch authorities have provided further information by letter of 17 May 2000. II. DESCRIPTION This system in Chapter IV of the manure law provides for an obligatory bookkeeping system for minerals on the individual holding and maximum phosphate and () O] C 190, 8.7.2000, p. 4. () See footnote 1. nitrogen emissions into the environment per holding. If emissions go beyond these maximum quantities taxes will have to be paid for these quantities. The prohibitive levies are only being levied if the total amount of phos- phate and nitrogen introduced on a farm minus the total amount of minerals removed exceeds in a calendar year the norms for the permissible wastage of phosphate and nitrogen in the environment (so-called ‘loss norms’). If an undertaking takes effective measures, e.g., the removal of manure which may not be spread on the land, it will not have to pay any levies. Under the proposed measure small undertakings (so- called ‘hobby-undertakings’) and garden centres are fully exempted from the mineral levies provided for by the manure law. Horticultural farms growing crops in glass- houses or on substrate are partially exempted. A. EXEMPTION FOR SMALL UNDERTAKINGS UNDERTAKINGS) (HOBBY Article 38 of the manure law already provides for an exemption for, inter alia, extensive livestock farming, as the policy aim is to focus on the undertakings with the biggest environmental risks to which category extensive livestock farms in principle do not belong. The reason for introducing a separate exemption for small, extensive livestock farms (hobby undertakings) is that some of these may not meet the formal require- ments provided for by Article 38 of the manure law. The idea is that the production of animal manure is so limited on such undertakings that measures for the disposal of the manure can easily be adopted. This exemption applies to undertakings which have on average no more than three livestock units (*) and three hectares of agriculture land during a calendar year, and () For example, sows for slaughter are 0,288 livestock units, which implies that about 10 such sows can be held; lying hens older than 18 weeks are 0,012 livestock units, which implies that about 250 such hens can be kept.