should be based on the nutrient requirements of the plants. Nutrient requirements are
calculated on the basis of measurements and guide values. Problems related to
fertilisation have often been pointed out in recent decades (BLAG 2012; Taube
et al. 2013). Fertilisation is associated with a number of negative effects on the
environment, some of which are considerable. It leads to soil, water and air pollution
and thus to negative effects on natural resources. Each type of fertiliser is associated
with certain problems: These negative effects can be avoided or reduced if
fertilisation is carried out in such a way that the nutrients are supplied precisely
and in line with nutrient requirements. The rules of the Fertiliser Ordinance are
therefore of particular relevance for avoiding the negative effects of fertiliser operations (SRU 2015). In 2017 the Fertiliser Ordinance has been amended because
the EU Commission has taken Germany to court for inadequate implementation of
the Nitrates Directive and the Fertiliser Ordinance is intended to implement the
Directive. In 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that Germany had failed to
fulfil its obligations under the Directive by adopting the Fertiliser Ordinance of 2006.
However, on basis of the ruling of the European Court of Justice, the European
Commission also saw a need to adapt the Fertiliser Regulation from 2017. Accordingly, the Fertiliser Regulation was again amended in 2020.
Now that the theory of strong sustainability and the Fertiliser Ordinance have
been briefly presented, it will be illustrated how the evaluation criteria developed
with the aid of sustainability theory can be used to evaluate the Fertiliser Ordinance.
Since fertilisation has many and massive effects on natural resources, the Fertiliser
Ordinance is a central set of rules from an environmental and agricultural point of
view and the question to be addressed in the following is: How can the moral quality
of the amended version of the Fertiliser Ordinance be evaluated? The criteria are
treated in the same order as above.
5.1 The Deducibility Criterion
The criterion of deducibility concerns the question of whether the rules of the rule
system can be argumentatively established or, in the variant related to sustainability
theory, whether the rules can be argumentatively established on the basis of the
statements of the theory of strong sustainability.
Specific obligations for farmers can be derived from the rules of sustainability
theory by drawing on further conceptual, empirical and normative premises. These
further premises supplement or expand the sustainability theory and the quality of
these background statements or their fit with the sustainability theory would have to
be discussed separately. For example, the theory of sustainability gives rise to a rule
according to which the supply of fertilisers is necessary in order to maintain soil
fertility and to produce useful plants, and from this rule one can derive the rule
according to which farmers may fertilise.
However, sustainability rules can be used to establish a massive restriction on the
use of phosphorus as a fertiliser. A major fertilisation problem is being discussed
A Framework for Evaluation of Normative Solutions to Environmental Problems
121
calculated on the basis of measurements and guide values. Problems related to
fertilisation have often been pointed out in recent decades (BLAG 2012; Taube
et al. 2013). Fertilisation is associated with a number of negative effects on the
environment, some of which are considerable. It leads to soil, water and air pollution
and thus to negative effects on natural resources. Each type of fertiliser is associated
with certain problems: These negative effects can be avoided or reduced if
fertilisation is carried out in such a way that the nutrients are supplied precisely
and in line with nutrient requirements. The rules of the Fertiliser Ordinance are
therefore of particular relevance for avoiding the negative effects of fertiliser operations (SRU 2015). In 2017 the Fertiliser Ordinance has been amended because
the EU Commission has taken Germany to court for inadequate implementation of
the Nitrates Directive and the Fertiliser Ordinance is intended to implement the
Directive. In 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that Germany had failed to
fulfil its obligations under the Directive by adopting the Fertiliser Ordinance of 2006.
However, on basis of the ruling of the European Court of Justice, the European
Commission also saw a need to adapt the Fertiliser Regulation from 2017. Accordingly, the Fertiliser Regulation was again amended in 2020.
Now that the theory of strong sustainability and the Fertiliser Ordinance have
been briefly presented, it will be illustrated how the evaluation criteria developed
with the aid of sustainability theory can be used to evaluate the Fertiliser Ordinance.
Since fertilisation has many and massive effects on natural resources, the Fertiliser
Ordinance is a central set of rules from an environmental and agricultural point of
view and the question to be addressed in the following is: How can the moral quality
of the amended version of the Fertiliser Ordinance be evaluated? The criteria are
treated in the same order as above.
5.1 The Deducibility Criterion
The criterion of deducibility concerns the question of whether the rules of the rule
system can be argumentatively established or, in the variant related to sustainability
theory, whether the rules can be argumentatively established on the basis of the
statements of the theory of strong sustainability.
Specific obligations for farmers can be derived from the rules of sustainability
theory by drawing on further conceptual, empirical and normative premises. These
further premises supplement or expand the sustainability theory and the quality of
these background statements or their fit with the sustainability theory would have to
be discussed separately. For example, the theory of sustainability gives rise to a rule
according to which the supply of fertilisers is necessary in order to maintain soil
fertility and to produce useful plants, and from this rule one can derive the rule
according to which farmers may fertilise.
However, sustainability rules can be used to establish a massive restriction on the
use of phosphorus as a fertiliser. A major fertilisation problem is being discussed
A Framework for Evaluation of Normative Solutions to Environmental Problems
121