In an exchange of views in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, on Thursday 9 September, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, warned the Parliament of the consequences of a rejection in plenary next week of a Delegated Act on restrictions on the use of certain antimicrobials in humans.
Stella Kyriakides gave details of the various initiatives in the pipeline, including the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy (see other news).
In response to questions from Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany), Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) and Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) on antimicrobial resistance, Ms Kyriakides asked the European Parliament not to reject the Delegated Act in question. “Rejecting the Delegated Act would be a step backwards in our work. We don’t know what the next step will be if it is rejected”, the Commissioner stressed. She said that the criteria in the proposal were established by experts on the basis of scientific evidence. “Reserving certain antibiotics for human health is an important action for the EU and the aim is to provide a basis for work at international level”, the Commissioner underlined. “We know that human, animal and plant health are inextricably linked. We must be bold and take this step towards setting up a list of antimicrobials which will be banned for use in animals”, added Ms Kyriakides.
Bees. Furthermore, the Commissioner recalled that at the Agriculture Council of the EU on 28 June, a majority of ministers “supported my proposal” for an EU-wide specific protection goal for honey bees that limits the reduction in permitted colony size to 10%. We have already asked the European Food Safety Authority to update its Bee Guidance on this ambitious but achievable basis, and pursue efforts to set protection goals also for solitary bees and bumblebees”.
On new genomic techniques, the Commission will carry out an impact assessment to examine “potential policy options”.
“With balanced regulatory oversight, we can ensure that these new scientific developments help us achieve our Green Deal and Farm to Fork aims”, Ms Kyriakides said.
Pesticides. Revising the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive will be crucial in achieving the targets in the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, “which involve halving both the use and the risk of chemical pesticides and the use of more hazardous pesticides”, the Commissioner reiterated, adding that “under our ambitious timetable, we aim to deliver a legislative proposal in the first quarter of next year” on the use of pesticides.
Animal health. On the review of animal welfare legislation, another online public consultation will take place this autumn, followed by a stakeholder conference on 9 December. “We then aim to finalise the impact assessment by the end of next year and the legislative proposals in 2023”, Ms Kyriakides said.
Another task is to update the legislation on the production and marketing of plant reproductive material. “Legislation adapted to modern technological developments and political priorities will deliver more sustainable food production and more plant diversity“, the Commissioner said. The Commission will adopt a legislative proposal at the end of 2022 on plant reproductive material.
Link to the draft motion to reject the European Parliament Delegated Act on antibiotics: https://bit.ly/3nkw2ZQ (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)