On the initiative of Socialist coordinator in the European Parliament’s agriculture committee Éric Andrieu, the S&D Group in Parliament agreed unanimously on Thursday 8 June to back the delegated act that seeks to ban the use of pesticides on ecological focus areas (EFAs).
The S&D Group position is, therefore, to support the delegated act presented by the Commission which contains a number of provisions, including prohibiting the use of plant protection products on EFAs. The agriculture committee has already asked Parliament to object to the delegated act (see EUROPE 11798).
The plenary session vote on the agriculture committee position will take place in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 June. At this stage, “the European Right is against the ban”, states a press release from the French delegation in the S&D Group. The S&D believes that the restriction would help biodiversity, “push agriculture towards a more sustainable model” and “protect Europe’s health”.
“Protein plan” called for. The Social Democrats do not understand the arguments of the Right, “which see this measure as harming protein and legume production, sectors where the EU is heavily dependent on third countries”.
The S&D acknowledges that there is a significant protein deficit in the EU. To properly address the issue, what is needed is a real “protein plan” that can meet the challenge, something much more substantial involving more than the 8% of arable land that make up ecological focus areas, the Social Democrats argue. Jean-Paul Denanot (S&D, France) is drafting a report on proteins which contains robust solutions that will do no harm to the environment.
Beyond this issue, the S&D Group believes that, in the face of the negative signs sent by US President Donald Trump on the environment, “Europe should send a strong message by taking the lead on environmental and climate issues”.
Social Democrat MEPs hope to be able to garner 376 votes in the Chamber to back the delegated act on greening, which has already been approved by the Council of Ministers of the EU. The Parliament decision is likely to be close. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)