Brussels, 28/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - In the hall of fame of member states which use as many derogations to European laws on pesticides as they can to authorise the use of these chemical products, France is top of the table, stresses a new report published on 29 January by PAN-Europe (Pesticide Action Network Europe). This report, entitled Meet (chemical) agriculture, the world of backdoors, derogations, sneaky pathways and loopholes, contains a careful analysis of one of the many loopholes in European Directive 91/414 (on the marketing of phyto-pharmaceutical products), which the NGO denounces.
It shows that recourse to Article 8.4 of the directive on derogations has seen an explosion of more than 500% in four years. In 2010, the member states applied for 321 derogations for 152 different chemical products, and in this race for derogations, France is the winner with 74 derogations granted for unauthorised pesticides. It is followed by Greece (54) and Portugal (31). France, which granted no derogations in previous years, is now citing 74 cases of “unforeseen danger” to deal with. PAN criticises the lack of transparency of the decision-making process of the EU, which reveals no information about the reasons given for the derogations, or on the measures taken by the member states. PAN-Europe is extremely unconvinced by the sudden occurrence of so many cases of “unforeseen danger” and questions whether the use of all these derogations is in fact legal. (A.N./transl.fl)