The new Pesticides Regulation receives cautious welcome by environmental groups

The fact that the proposal is now a regulation, compared to a directive, is an important improvement but will not be sufficient to ensure proper and prompt implementation by Member States. Political decision makers must remain vigilant so that the mistakes of the past, that have made us lose a decade of inaction, are not repeated. 

Eva Corral, Senior Policy Advisor for Pesticide and Water Pollution at EEB said: “As any doctor would say, prevention is better than cure. Integrated pest management, which base are agronomical practices, monitoring and physical control, must be a cornerstone of the new legislation for the sake of human, animal and plant health”.

Clara Bourgin, Food, Agriculture and Nature Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said: “The European Commission could have gone much further to bring about pesticides-free agriculture much sooner. Binding EU and national targets is an important first step, but overall the proposals put too much emphasis on corporate-controlled ‘precision farming‘ and other false solutions, and not enough emphasis on agroecological practices.“

Madeleine Coste, policy officer at Slow Food Europe: “In spite of the agrochemical industry’s intense lobbying, the proposal that EU Member States would now have to commit to halving pesticides use by 2030 is an important step towards transforming the way we farm. However, we must ensure that the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy is leveraged to drive the transition towards agroecology by supporting farmers, or the European Green Deal will remain empty words.”

Nina Holland, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory: “It is good to see that a proposal including binding EU and national targets is finally on the table. However, what is proposed is really the bare minimum. 1.2 million of citizens have demanded a reduction of synthetic pesticides of 80% by 2030, and a full phase-out by 2035. Now it’s up to the EU member states and the European Parliament to step up the ambition, and not bow to industry pressure to keep our food system in the pesticide lock-in.”  

ENDS 

Notes to the editor

• Brussels-based lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) exposed the toxic lobby strategies in a comprehensive report 'A loud lobby for a silent spring: the pesticide industry's toxic lobbying tactics against Farm to Fork' (March 2022). The pesticide industry lobby group CropLife Europe (CLE) and their allies have staged an immense and well-resourced lobby campaign against the flagship-policy of the EU: the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategy (both pillars of the EU Green Deal).

• The European Commission was expected to publish the revision on March 23, setting the path for the legal implementation of the Farm to Fork. EU law obliges Member States to reduce the use of pesticides since 2009, but more than a decade later, several of them still argue against it and try to undermine the SUR proposal. Civil society organisations in March urged the European Commission to publish the much needed revision of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) within the briefest delays.