MedRESOURCE highlights how the Nitrates Directive’s RENURE update strengthens water protection while reducing farmers’ reliance on external fertilisers and promoting sustainable nutrient management.
When people talk about the “Nitrates Directive,” everything is often reduced to a single number: 170. In reality, that number is only the tip of the iceberg of a European policy created with a very concrete objective: protecting water bodies (groundwater and surface water) from nitrate pollution of agricultural origin. Directive 91/676/EEC, adopted in 1991, requires Member States to identify polluted waters or waters at risk, designate Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), and apply action programmes with mandatory measures (storage capacity, closed periods, fertilisation plans, spreading techniques, and so on).
In recent years, however, the context has changed. Alongside environmental protection, the issue of economic security and dependence on external inputs has become central again. Fertilisers—particularly nitrogen fertilisers—are exposed to geopolitical shocks because they depend on energy (gas), on a limited number of major production hubs, and on sensitive maritime routes. The World Bank notes that, in the second quarter of 2025, the fertiliser price index had increased compared with the beginning of the year, driven by demand, trade restrictions, and supply problems; among the upside risks, it highlights rising gas prices and new export restrictions. At the same time, UNCTAD points out that the rerouting of ships (such as that linked to the crisis in the Middle East) increases distances travelled and logistics costs, making freight rates more volatile and particularly affecting bulk supply chains, including fertilisers.
The recent worsening of the international crisis linked to the US-Iran war makes this picture even clearer. Reuters has documented in recent days the collapse in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the laying of naval mines, with immediate effects on insurance risks and on the continuity of maritime trade. When energy and logistics become unstable, European agriculture is more exposed to fertiliser price volatility and to possible supply disruptions.
It is in this context that the most recent development should be understood: the introduction, within the regulatory framework of the Nitrates Directive, of a specific category of fertilisers derived from processed livestock manure, known as RENURE (REcovered Nitrogen from manURE). The Joint Research Centre (JRC) helped build the technical basis for this regulatory option by proposing criteria for the safe use of recovered nutrients. For MedRESOURCE—and especially for a territory such as Arborea, in Sardinia, where nutrient management is not only a technical issue but also a social and institutional one—this development is not a minor detail: it is a window of opportunity that nevertheless requires rigour, control, and public credibility.
The core of the Directive remains unchanged: in vulnerable zones, the general limit for annual nitrogen application from livestock manure is 170 kg N/ha/year. Over time, some Member States have obtained derogations, but always accompanied by strengthened conditions and controls. The underlying political message is that any flexibility is acceptable only if it does not weaken water protection and if compliance can be verified.
The most recent turning point came with Directive (EU) 2026/288 of 9 February 2026, which amends Annex III of the Nitrates Directive by introducing a specific framework for the use of RENURE. This measure does not remove the 170 limit. Rather, it adds the possibility, under certain conditions, of authorising an additional application (up to 80 kg N/ha/year) linked exclusively to RENURE products that comply with the required criteria. In the reasoning of the act and in the Commission’s communication, the rationale is explicit: to promote the replacement of mineral fertilisers with recovered nutrients, reduce farmers’ exposure to fertiliser price volatility, and increase the strategic autonomy of the agricultural sector, while preserving water protection.
This framework is fully consistent with the reflections developed within MedRESOURCE. The value does not lie in “going beyond 170,” but in demonstrating that a nitrogen recovery chain can operate safely and under controlled conditions, contributing to the closure of nutrient cycles and to reducing dependence on external inputs. In the Arborea Living Lab, the technological pathway oriented towards nitrogen recovery can become a testing ground not only in technical terms, but also from a regulatory perspective. Product quality, traceability, controls, and correct agronomic use are conditions for credibility, not marginal compliance requirements.
One delicate point remains, and in territories with high livestock density it cannot be ignored: avoiding rebound effects, that is, preventing the RENURE option from being interpreted as a “green light” encouraging an increase in overall pressure. In this field, sustainability depends on the product itself, but also—and often above all—on the system of rules, responsibilities, and monitoring governing its production and use.
Anna Pireddu is Communication and Capacity Building manager of CRENoS for the implementation of the MedRESOURCE project.
Last Update
02/04/2026
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