Nutrient balances
Article 3
1. The gross nutrient – nitrogen and phosphorous – balance shall be the difference between the nutrient inputs to, and outputs from, agricultural soil. The inputs shall be mainly the nutrients in fertilisers used and in the production of manure from livestock, but also those from the introduction of seeds and – for nitrogen – the processes of biological fixation and atmospheric deposition. The outputs shall mostly be the nutrients in crops and forage harvested or grazed, but also in the manure withdrawals and removal of crop residues not returned to the soil. 2. The net nitrogen balance shall be defined as the gross nutrient balance for nitrogen from which the nitrogen emissions from the soil and manure management are deducted. 3. The Commission (Eurostat) shall annually calculate these nutrient balances, based on (a) data sets provided as described in Annex I and Annex II; (b) data on animal production statistics as described in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2745 of 8 December 2023 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards animal production statistics ( 2 ) ; (c) data on crop production statistics as described in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1538 of 25 July 2023 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards crop production statistics ( 3 ) ; (d) data on emissions as reported under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) and the National Emission Reduction Commitments Directive ( 4 ) , as well as under the EU Governance Regulation ( 5 ) and under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).