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Boerenbond vzw

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Boerenbond is a Christian farmers' union representing agricultural and horticultural interests in Belgium through advocacy, training, and cooperative production and sales services.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Wouter Beke (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Jan 2026 · Mercosur

Meeting with Barbara Bonte (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Jan 2026 · Mercosur

Meeting with Tom Vandendriessche (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Jan 2026 · EU-Mercosur

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Jan 2026 · Mercosur agreement

Meeting with Wouter Beke (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Nov 2025 · Simplifications in environmental legislation for Flemish

Meeting with Patricia Reilly (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

6 Nov 2025 · simplifications in environmental legislation for Flemish farmers

Meeting with Patricia Reilly (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

6 Nov 2025 · attached

Meeting with Jan Ceyssens (Cabinet of Commissioner Jessika Roswall), Vita Jukne (Cabinet of Commissioner Jessika Roswall)

15 Sept 2025 · Simplification

Meeting with Johannes Van Den Bossche (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen)

9 Sept 2025 · Simplification package with impact on agriculture

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Jul 2025 · Exchange on Labour Law and Social Security in the Belgium's agricultural sector

Meeting with Gijs Schilthuis (Director Agriculture and Rural Development)

22 May 2025 · Exchange of views on the vision presented by the Boerenbond and other issues considered relevant for Flemish farmers.

Meeting with Liesbet Sommen (Member of the European Parliament)

19 May 2025 · Milieudossiers

Meeting with Kris Van Dijck (Member of the European Parliament)

14 May 2025 · EU Agriculture Policy

Meeting with Catherine Geslain-Laneelle (Director Agriculture and Rural Development)

13 May 2025 · Exchange of views on the vision presented by the Boerenbond and other issues considered relevant for Flemish farmers.

Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament)

12 May 2025 · Mercosur

Meeting with Hilde Vautmans (Member of the European Parliament)

12 May 2025 · Europese landbouwprioriteiten

Meeting with Koen Dillen (Head of Unit Agriculture and Rural Development)

7 May 2025 · Developing plant protein production in Flanders

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament) and Deutscher Bauernverband

14 Mar 2025 · Event on the future of agriculture

Boerenbond Urges EU to Prioritize Agriculture in Water Strategy

3 Mar 2025
Topic — The Commission is developing a multi-annual plan to ensure European water resilience.
Message — Boerenbond demands the Commission designate agriculture as a critical water sector. They seek funding for storage infrastructure and simplified permitting rules.12
Why — This would ensure irrigation access during droughts and remove regulatory permit freezes.34
Impact — Environmental groups lose protections if the strategy deprioritizes water quality standards.5
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Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Feb 2025 · Preparation Visit Commissioner of Agriculture and Food

Meeting with Liesbet Sommen (Member of the European Parliament)

7 Jan 2025 · EU landbouwdossiers: omgeving en sociale zaken

Meeting with Liesbet Sommen (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Dec 2024 · Seizoensarbeid

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Dec 2024 · Actie Mercosur

Boerenbond urges faster adoption of manure-derived fertilizer rules

17 May 2024
Topic — A consultation on allowing processed animal manure to replace chemical fertilizers in farming.
Message — Boerenbond requests reducing the implementation period to six months and removing the 100 kg/ha application limit. They advocate for technological neutrality and the removal of animal production caps linked to RENURE use.123
Why — Farmers would reduce their dependence on expensive imported fertilizers by using circularly recovered nutrients.45
Impact — Chemical fertilizer importers lose market share as farmers substitute expensive artificial products with recycled manure.6
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Response to Aligning the biodegradability criteria for polymers in EU fertiliisng products to the REACH restriciton on microplastics

5 Apr 2024

Boerenbond welcomes the inclusion of the biodegradability criteria for coating agents and water retention polymers specified in Annex I, Appendix 1 and agrees with the Commission that the use of those products can contribute [] to a sustainable use of water in agriculture and to reach the target set out in the Commission Communication on the Farm to Fork Strategy to reduce nutrient losses [] while ensuring that there is no deterioration in soil fertility. Boerenbond welcomes as well the inclusion of soil-biodegradable mulch films in the Fertilising Products Regulation. Certified soil-biodegradable mulch films are used by some farmers to increase the yield and quality of crops, control weeds and increase the soil temperature and moisture. At the same time, they allow the reduction of inputs for cultivation (e.g. herbicides) and add a carbon source into the soil, which can be used, for example, as an energy source by soil microorganisms. For farmers in Flanders it is important that they can use fertilisers with these coatings and polymers and soil-biodegradable mulch films in a safe way and that these products are well available for them, at reasonable costs. It is important that these products fully biodegraded in all weather circumstances in Flanders to safe products such as CO2 and water, so farmers don't have to worry about polluting there soil with microplastics or with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). We hope that the given criteria will provide this certainty to farmers.
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Response to The protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources – Evaluation

8 Mar 2024

Boerenbond appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback as part of the review of the Nitrates Directive. Improving water quality is a responsibility that concerns everyone. All actors that provide an input of nutrients in water must contribute (households, water treatment, industry,...). Agriculture and horticulture farmers are already working on good fertilisation practices and will continue to do so. Good guidance and clear legislation is crucial to take those steps. Here, Boerenbond focuses on solutions that are feasible and result-oriented in practice. A crucial element of Boerenbond's proposals is the demand to allow farmers to maximise the use of circular, animal fertilisers to replace chemical fertilisers. There is also the question of whether the targets imposed by the Nitrates Directive and overarching Water Framework Directive can be met in the Flemish region. The agricultural sector is already taking its responsibility and continues to commit itself but results in the monitoring netwerk must follow. Continuing to tighten the manure policy each time, with additional measures, without letting go of measures that turned out to be ineffective, does not maintain support. Attached is our comprehensive response and position can be found (first in Dutch, then in English). Please find below our respond in Dutch: Boerenbond apprecieert de mogelijkheid om feedback te geven in kader van de evaluatie van de Nitraatrichtlijn. Het verbeteren van de waterkwaliteit is een verantwoordelijkheid die iedereen aangaat. Alle actoren die zorgen voor een input van nutriënten in het water moeten hun bijdrage leveren (huishoudens, waterzuivering, industrie,...). Land- en tuinbouwers zijn al aan de slag met goede bemestingspraktijken en zullen dit ook in de toekomst nog verder verbeteren. Een goede begeleiding en duidelijke wetgeving is cruciaal om die stappen te zetten. Boerenbond focust hierbij op oplossingen die haalbaar én resultaatgericht zijn in de praktijk. Een cruciaal element uit de voorstellen van Boerenbond is de vraag om boeren toe te laten maximaal in te zetten op circulaire, dierlijke meststoffen ter vervanging van kunstmest. Daarnaast moet ook de vraag worden gesteld of de doelstellingen die de Nitraatrichtlijn en overkoepelende Kaderrichtlijn Water oplegt in de Vlaamse regio überhaupt gehaald kunnen worden. De landbouwsector neemt alvast haar verantwoordelijkheid en blijft zichzelf inzetten maar de resultaten op het terrein moeten dan ook wel volgen. Het telkens blijven verstrengen van het mestbeleid, met extra maatregelen, zonder het laten wegvallen van maatregelen die niet effectief bleken, zorgt ervoor dat het draagvlak niet behouden blijft. Bijgevoegd is onze uitgebreide reactie en standpunt terug te vinden.
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Meeting with Christine Schneider (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

19 Feb 2024 · NRL

Response to Technical specifications for the preparation of risk management plans to ensure the safe reuse of treated waste water in

8 Feb 2024

Boerenbond is the professional organization for every agricultural entrepreneur in Flanders and East Belgium. With our local and regional board members and a strong team of experts, we bring our 16,000 members together to work in dialogue with society for a robust and sustainable agricultural and horticultural sector with a future. We are aware of the possible risks of using treated wastewater for food and feed production, incorrect use can lead to water-borne diseases. It is thus important to properly monitor the quality of the water for irrigation. But the scope of the risk management goes way further than the quality of the reclaimed water. Also the impact on the environment, soil, surface- and groundwater must be thoroughly investigated. In our opinion it is sufficient to ensure the used water is of proper quality, if the source is safe it may not endanger the environment. The reclamation facility operator shall ensure that, at the point of compliance, reclaimed water intended for agricultural irrigation complies with the minimum requirements for water quality (Section 2 of Annex 1) and the competent authority can set additional requirements. The competent authorities of Member States can go far in this and make an endless list of parameters to be tested. The designation of crop type into categories differs from the existing Belgian specifications such as Vegaplan and Global GAP. No distinction is made if the rawlconsumed crop will be 'thoroughly washed or peeled', everything that can be consumed raw falls under the same categorie. The administrative burden and costs for using the reclaimed water will be high and it is unclear how these burden and costs will be divided among the farmers and the other parties involved, this can inhibit sustainable collaborations between industry and farmers. To ease the burden it is recommended that the risk management consist of rather general information in the served area than site-specific information on irrigation type, common agricultural practices, crops, soil types, etc.
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Meeting with Janusz Wojciechowski (Commissioner) and

1 Feb 2024 · Raisons de la manifestation de la grève des agriculteurs du 1/2/2024

Meeting with Ursula von der Leyen (President) and European agri-cooperatives and

1 Feb 2024 · Meeting with Representatives of Farmers

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

31 Jan 2024 · CAP implementation, GAEC 6

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Nov 2023 · Ukrainian accession to the EU - impact assessment agriculture

Response to Processed manure as component material in EU fertilising products

30 Oct 2023

Boerenbond finds the Commission draft Delegated regulation adding processed manure as a component material in the EU fertilising products regulation a positive step forward. It could offer alternative fertilising products to synthetic fertilisers on the market in deficit areas. This will probably be used by larger manure processing installations. But Boerenbond want to highlight the potential of RENURE (Nitrogen REcovered from maNURE) that can be made on farm and can be used as a fertiliser replacing synthetic fertiliser. This can also be done in nitrate sensitive areas without any extra risk to the water quality. Some of these products are even indistinguishable from chemical fertilizers and thus a circular replacement. This is also climate-friendly, as you have no impact from CO2 emissions for the production of fertilizer. This Delegated regulation dus not provide any opportunity to this as the JRC report states that the current rules of the nitrate directive continue to apply, so it still remains animal manure. The maximum level of nitrogen from livestock manure that can be applied under the Nitrates Directive also includes processed livestock manure. Therefore, the potential of organic fertilisers from livestock manure as a substitute for mineral fertilisers is considerably limited by the arbitrary definition of processed livestock manure in Article 2 of the Nitrates Directive 91/676/EEC. Therefore, Boerenbond asks to make a technical proposals for the safe use of RENURE materials outside the threshold established for nitrate vulnerable zones by the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC). In this way, farmers would be able to strengthen the circular economy on their farms through innovative investments, reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and mineral fertilisers and lower their input costs.
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Boerenbond warns against "European straitjacket" for soil monitoring

16 Oct 2023
Topic — EU initiative to establish a framework for monitoring and protecting soil health.
Message — Boerenbond advocates for a flexible, effort-oriented policy that avoids a generic 'straitjacket' for diverse soils. They oppose the strict 'one-out-all-out' health principle and demand that soil data remains private. The group also calls for the removal of proposed soil health certificates.123
Why — Restricting data access and limiting monitoring would lower administrative and financial compliance costs.45
Impact — Environmental protections for open space weaken if the definition of land-take is altered.67
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Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Sept 2023 · Nature restoration law

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament) and Land- en Tuinbouw Organisatie Nederland and Embuild

30 May 2023 · Nature restoration law

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

26 May 2023 · Eurokongress im Dreiländereck

Meeting with Hilde Vautmans (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Apr 2023 · Challenges agricultural sector

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Mar 2023 · Nature restoration law, manure action plan agreement

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

28 Feb 2023 · CAP winter plowing provisions and effects on polder soil

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Feb 2023 · Renure; fertilisers

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

1 Feb 2023 · seasonal workers Belgium-Poland fiscal problems

Meeting with Maciej Golubiewski (Cabinet of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski)

11 Jan 2023 · Discussion on RENURE

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Jan 2023 · Renure products

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

1 Dec 2022 · Bovine: EU cooperation in meat sector

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

28 Sept 2022 · IED - Industrial Emissions Directive

Boerenbond urges EU to rethink 'unacceptable' nature restoration law

22 Aug 2022
Topic — The proposal introduces legally binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems across Europe.
Message — The organization requests a thorough impact analysis and rejects binding targets for new habitats. They argue current rules already place unsustainable pressure on highly urbanized agricultural land.12
Why — Farmers would avoid losing productive land and escape stricter environmental permitting requirements.34
Impact — Environmental groups lose the legal protections needed to reverse the unprecedented loss of biodiversity.56
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Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Jun 2022 · industrial emissions

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Mar 2022 · Exchange on the topic: Implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Wallonia

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Dec 2021 · crisis in pigmeat sector

Response to New EU Soil Strategy - healthy soil for a healthy life

9 Dec 2020

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the roadmap on the update of the Soil Thematic Strategy. Soil is a valuable resource and a key production factor for the agricultural sector. Hence, its protection and sustainable use is of prime interest to all farmers who are constantly making efforts to maintain the land’s capacity and its fertility. These actors have a special role in the provision of ecosystem services, which must be recognised and supported. Since the soil across the EU is very variable regarding its characteristics, but also about its use in the socio-economic context, and due to the significant knowledge gaps, it is very difficult to establish general EU-wide soil quality standards and measures to address soil threats – including the definition of what constitutes ‘good ecological status’ for soils. There is a need to acknowledge these differences and for this reason, setting any targets, including the restoration ones, at EU level in legislative proposals would be very difficult and possibly incompatible with the subsidiarity principle. In addition, in terms of restoration we must keep in mind that soils generally respond slowly to changes in management practices. Even given sufficient time, soil properties can only be improved within certain limits set by climate and parent material. More focus in terms of objectives, on the other hand, should be put on the problem of soil sealing/land take. To ensure healthy soils, all sectors need to contribute. We need to recognise and respect the importance of productive soils and soil functions which can be irreversibly destroyed by soil sealing and construction. Therefore, we should maintain the growth potential of farmland and forests and avoid land abandonment of fertile cultivated soils, which are the basis for food security, supply of renewable raw materials and are important for maintaining biodiversity.
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Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

17 Nov 2020 · Meeting on social security and seasonal workers.

Response to EU Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil

29 Oct 2020

Boerenbond, the Belgian farmers’ association, welcomes the opportunity to provide its feedback to the European Commission roadmap on the EU Action Plan Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil. Sustainability and sustainable management are already key concerns of the agricultural farms in Flanders (Belgium). Current legislation already sets high standards and contributes to a cleaner planet for all. Future progress will be guided by the 8th Environmental Action Programme for the period up to 2030 which the Commission has published in draft. Hence, a separate zero-pollution action plan is not needed. The existing specific legislation on water, air and chemicals already fulfills its purpose and ensures a high level of environmental and health protection. There is already the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the BAT process based on the directive, which ensure that the best available techniques are subject to constant review, that they are continuously developed and are also applied. In the case of soil, there is no justification for an EU-wide approach as there are no transboundary impacts. This is already convincingly regulated in many Member States, such as in Flanders. Pollution is highly variable spatio-temporally, such that prevention, assessment and management should account for that (prioritization). The costs of reaching zero would tend towards infinite and a disaggregation would be needed between “natural” pollution and “man-made” pollution. A risk-based approach would recognise the concentrations at which substances are safe, posing no risk to health or the environment. In conclusion we believe the EU action plan "Towards a Zero Pollution Ambition for air, water and soil" is dispensable and must in no way lead to unnecessary and even disproportionate actions. Should it be pursued, the measures derived from it may be limited in their scope exclusively to non IED systems and activities, focussing in the first place on households and not on the sectors. The design of the EU Action Plan must take into account existing efforts to reduce negative impacts on the environment in a coherent and appropriate manner and avoid inconsistent and double regulations.
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Boerenbond labels expansion of industrial emission rules as premature

21 Apr 2020
Topic — This consultation evaluates updating EU rules to reduce industrial and agricultural pollution.
Message — They consider the plans to revise the Directive as unfounded and premature. They believe it is not appropriate to regulate cattle and mixed farms. They argue agricultural carbon reduction requirements must include soil carbon storage accounting.123
Why — Farmers would avoid making considerable investments to meet tightened emission standards.4
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Response to Initiative to improve the Food Supply Chain

22 Aug 2017

Boerenbond verwelkomt het initiatief van de Europese Commissie om een bevraging te organiseren in verband met het functioneren van de Agro-Voedingsketen en de daarin voorkomende oneerlijke handelspraktijken. Een aantal jaren geleden organiseerde de Boerenbond een enquête om te peilen naar de ervaringen van de leden boeren en tuinders met de werking van de keten en de mogelijke oneerlijke handelspraktijken. De leden verwijzen bij 'oneerlijke handelspraktijken' spontaan naar de markt, en in het bijzonder naar de oneerlijke prijsvorming en naar de zwakke marktpositie van de land- en tuinbouwers. Zij beschouwen dit duidelijk als een structureel gegeven en als het falen van een systeem. Oneerlijke handelspraktijken – in strikte zin en gemeten met een lijst van achttien concrete praktijken gebaseerd op eerdere publicaties van de Commissie over UTP’s – komen vrij frequent voor. In de afgelopen vijf jaar werd 87% van de land- en tuinbouwers geconfronteerd met een of meer oneerlijke handelspraktijken, 56% met drie of meer. Ruim een derde tot de helft rapporteert (in volgorde van belangrijkheid): eenzijdige prijsaanpassingen, eenzijdig opgelegde contractvoorwaarden, niet-correcte kwaliteitsbeoordelingen en onredelijke prijzen voor bijkomende dienstverlening. UTP’s hangen dus in de eerste plaats samen met ontbrekende, onduidelijke of te beperkte afspraken die nadien in het voordeel van de sterkste partij worden geïnterpreteerd. Het komt er dus in de eerste plaats op aan zo exhaustief mogelijk de agenda te zetten. Daarnaast is het cruciaal het onderhandelingsevenwicht te herstellen. De GMO-verordening zet een duidelijke agenda voor het interprofessionele overleg in het kader van branche organisaties en bepaalt duidelijk het mandaat van producentenorganisaties die instrumenteel zijn in het herstel van het onderhandelingsevenwicht. Het is evenwel essentieel ook voor de uiteindelijke contractuele relaties een duidelijke agenda te zetten, bv. aan de hand van een leidraad, richtsnoeren, best practices. GMO-verordening bijlage X specifiek voor de suikersector vormt een duidelijk voorbeeld dat dienstig kan zijn voor alle sectoren. Het is niet duidelijk in hoeverre het voorstel tot uitbreiding van de value sharing agreement refereert naar de totaliteit van bijlage X of enkel naar Afdeling II, §3. Een wettelijke regeling is wellicht te beperkend voor beide partijen. Daarenboven wordt het resultaat van een handelspraktijk als oneerlijk ervaren, terwijl de praktijk op zich vast onderdeel is van commerciële onderhandelingen. Dit vraagt veeleer interpretatie en overleg dan een zwart-wit kader. Het is cruciaal dat de ketenactoren komen tot overleg en in een cascade van zelfregulerend precompetitief interprofessioneel overleg, collectief commercieel overleg en individuele contractualisering komen tot duidelijke en evenwichtige afspraken. De Europese regelgeving kan hiervoor het kader ontwikkelen, aan agenda setting doen, best practices aanreiken en bovenal een rechtszeker kader bieden voor alle partijen. Strikte reglementering juridiseert de discussie en houdt de partijen in een conflictmodel wat niet noodzakelijk tot het gewenste resultaat leidt, al helemaal niet op sectorniveau. Het Belgisch ketenoverleg agrovoeding (Belgisch SCI) vertrekt vanuit bovenstaande analyse en zet aldus het brede kader voor eerlijke handelsrelaties. Het zet de agenda en biedt een leidraad voor meer specifiek sectoraal overleg. Het ketenoverleg faciliteert horizontaal en sectoraal de vooruitgang en bewaakt de naleving van het brede kader. Het ketenoverleg kan initiatief nemen rond politieke en maatschappelijke thema’s van horizontaal en breed ketenbelang gericht op elkaar afgestemde communicatie of het bepleiten van gericht politiek initiatief op regionaal, federaal of Europees niveau. De door de diverse partners opgemaakte en goedgekeurde gedragscode blijft hierbij bepalend Er wordt onder het voorzitterschap van een externe onafhankelijke voorzitter
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Meeting with Marianne Thyssen (Commissioner)

7 Jul 2017 · Social security regulation. Posting of workers. Social dialogue.

Meeting with Inge Bernaerts (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)

20 Feb 2017 · Social security of seasonal workers

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (First Vice-President) and Umicore and

11 May 2015 · Better Regulation

Meeting with Valdis Dombrovskis (Vice-President) and

30 Apr 2015 · Meeting in frames of European Semester meetings with Belgian Authorities and Social Partners

Meeting with Ladislav Miko (acting Director-General Health and Food Safety)

5 Feb 2015 · Présentation de projets

Meeting with Raf De Backer (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)

19 Dec 2014 · European agricultural policy and labour mobility

Meeting with Marianne Thyssen (Commissioner)

19 Dec 2014 · EU agricultural policy and labour mobility