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Glossary termPublished inIED 2.0

Installation

Also known as installatie

What does "Installation" mean under the IED?

A stationary technical unit within which one or more activities listed in Annex I, in Annex Ia or in Part 1 of Annex VII are carried out, and any other directly associated activities on the same site which have a technical connection with the activities listed in those Annexes and which could have an effect on emissions and pollution

Defined in / by

Last updated: 14 October 2026.

What counts as one installation

The installation is the unit the Directive regulates. The duty to hold a permit, the environmental management system, inspections and penalties all attach to an installation and its operator. A site can hold more than one installation, and an installation can include activities that are not listed themselves, as long as they are directly associated with a listed activity, sit on the same site, have a technical connection with it and could have an effect on emissions and pollution.

Directive (EU) 2024/1785 added Annex Ia to the definition. Until 4 August 2024 it named only Annex I and Part 1 of Annex VII. Since then a pig or poultry farm above the Annex Ia thresholds is an installation in its own right, regulated through Chapter VIa rather than the industrial permit chapter.

For farms, Article 70b lets the competent authority treat two or more installations as a single unit when they are located close to each other and their operator is the same, or their operators are in an economic or legal relationship. The single unit then counts for the capacity threshold. Whether a unit is in scope at all follows from the capacity thresholds in Annex I and Annex Ia.

Questions and answers

Is a pig or poultry farm an installation under the IED?

Yes, if it carries out an Annex Ia activity at or above the threshold: 350 livestock units for pigs, 300 for only laying hens, 280 for other poultry and 380 for a mix of pigs or poultry. Directive (EU) 2024/1785 added Annex Ia to the definition.

Can an activity that is not listed in Annex I be part of an installation?

Yes, when it is directly associated with a listed activity on the same site, has a technical connection with it and could have an effect on emissions and pollution.

Regulations

  • Industrial Emissions Directive (IED 2.0)

    The revised Industrial Emissions Directive is Directive (EU) 2024/1785. Member States had to transpose it by 1 July 2026, and none had notified full transposition by 25 September 2026. Operators need an environmental management system by 1 July 2027, and large pig and poultry farms follow from 2030. The Dutch bill is before the Eerste Kamer.

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    Parliament plenary, first reading of Omnibus VIII