L 148/88 Official Journal of the European Union 20.5.2014 DECISIONS COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 16 May 2014 granting a derogation requested by the Netherlands pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (notified under document C(2014) 3103) (Only the Dutch version is authentic) (2014/291/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources ('), and in particular the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex 111 thereto, Whereas: (1) If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from the one specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) thereof, that amount has to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives spe- cified in Article 1 of that Directive and has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as, in the present case, long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake. (2)  On 8 December 2005, the Commission adopted Decision 2005/880/EC (?) allowing the application of grazing livestock manure up to a limit of 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year, under certain conditions, in farms with at least 70 % grassland. (3)  On 5 February 2010, the Commission adopted Decision 2010/65/EU (*), amending Decision 2005/880/EC and extending the derogation to 31 December 2013. (4)  The derogation thus granted concerned 21 752 farms in 2012, corresponding to 46 % of the total net agri- cultural area. (5)  On 22 January 2014, the Netherlands submitted to the Commission a request for renewed derogation under the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC. (6)  The Netherlands, in conformity with paragraph 5 of Article 3 of Directive 91/676/EEC, applies an action programme throughout its whole territory. (7)  The Dutch legislation implementing Directive 91/676/EEC includes application standards both for nitrogen and phosphate. (8)  The data reported by the Netherlands concerning the period 2008-2011, show an increase of 7 % pig numbers and of 8 % poultry numbers as compared to the period 2004-2007. The numbers of cattle, sheep and goats remained stable. The competent authorities in the Netherlands have set limitations on the number of pigs and poultry coupled with the commitment that manure production both in terms of nitrogen and phosphorus will not increase beyond the level of the year 2002. Moreover, as from January 2015, the competent authorities in the Netherlands shall ensure that an appropriate share of surplus manure from the dairy sector is processed. These measures are necessary to ensure that the application of the current derogation would not lead to further intensification. () OJL375,31.12.1991,p. 1. () OJL 324,10.12.2005, p. 89. () OJL35,6.2.2010, p. 18.