Several European agriculture ministers called for, on Monday 13 June in Luxembourg, a realistic proposal from the European Commission on the sustainable use of pesticides, so as not to compromise crop productivity.
The Commission is due to present its proposal for a regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides on 22 June, with the aim of reducing pesticide use and risks by 50% by 2030.
At the EU Agriculture Council in Luxembourg, ten Central and Eastern European Member States presented a joint paper calling for the current difference in use from one country to another to be taken into account when drafting this new legislation. Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia stated, in their letter, that the 50% reduction targets should apply to the European Union as a whole and that “the contribution of individual Member States to achieving these targets should take into account the intensity of pesticide use in that Member State”.
See the letter from the ten EU countries: https://aeur.eu/f/21y
The European Commission is due to unveil, “before the summer break”, its proposals on pesticides and biodiversity, which aim to halve the use of pesticides in the EU by 2030, reduce the use of fertilisers by 20% and devote a quarter of the land to organic farming.
“We need a realistic proposal, given the timeframe for implementation and to maintain the profitability of farms”, insisted the Spanish minister, Luis Planas Puchades, for whom the reduction of pesticides, fertilisers and antibiotics in animal feed “represents an absolutely necessary shift in paradigm”, but a complicated one.
“The radical increase in health and environmental requirements on agriculture must not lead to a reduction in our production capacity, at the risk of disrupting food supply” and seeing the EU increase its imports to feed itself, reiterated the Italian Minister, Stefano Patuanelli.
“It is essential to have a proportionate approach, to avoid excessive bureaucratic burdens and to take into account national specificities, as the -50% target concerns the EU as a whole”, said the Estonian Minister, Urmas Kruuse.
Ireland asked to adapt the binding targets set for each country according to the efforts already made, while the rate of pesticide use on its soil is “among the lowest in Europe”.
Germany welcomed the pesticide reduction targets in the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy, but said “we have a food safety crisis”.
The Commission takes account of the concerns. “This is not about banning the use of pesticides, but about avoiding their excessive use where possible (...) to protect human health, the environment and biodiversity”, argued the Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides. “The risks associated with the use of plant protection products should be reduced where possible”, she added.
“Many of your concerns have been taken into account in the proposal”, the Commissioner said. The Commission will take into account national specificities, starting points and pesticide intensity per hectare according to natural needs, while accelerating the evaluation processes of “effective and affordable” alternative substances, she promised. “We need to do business to achieve a 50% reduction in usage levels”, Ms Kyriakides said.
The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, promised a fair approach that does not put virtuous countries at a disadvantage compared to heavy pesticide users. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)