On Wednesday 1 March, the negotiators of the European Parliament EPP group on the sustainable use of pesticides, Alexander Bernhuber (EPP, Austrian) and Franc Bogovič (EPP, Slovenian), criticised the content of Sarah Wiener’s (Greens/EFA, Austrian) draft report on this issue.
On Thursday 2 March, in the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Ms Wiener is to present her draft report (https://aeur.eu/f/5ka ) which foresees an 80% reduction in the use of the most dangerous plant protection products by 2030 (see EUROPE 13119/1).
At a press conference the EPP Committee on Environment negotiator, Alexander Bernhuber, criticised the 80% reduction target (-50% in the European Commission’s initial proposal) and the amendments foreseen for sensitive areas (the EPP wants pesticides to be allowed in these areas). According to Mr Bernhuber, the content of the draft report tends to “weaken food security”, as using less pesticides means less production, if there are no alternatives to plant protection products.
The EPP group believes that the draft report is not a good starting point for discussions and that it amounts to an ideological approach aiming to “criminalise the use of pesticides”, added the EPP shadow rapporteur in the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture, Franc Bogovič.
Before negotiating, the EPP wants to wait for the additional data that the Commission is to provide by June 2023 (at the request of the EU Council) on the effects of the proposal on food security. It wants to postpone negotiations on texts that have an effect on food security, such as those related to pesticides or the nature law.
However, Mr Bogovič said that the group did not want to block the debate. He will table amendments to the draft report to request, among other things, that the expected full impact assessment and the “major differences” between EU Member States (in terms of pesticide use and use reduction) be taken into account.
He also spoke about the usefulness of new genomic techniques and precision farming.
Timetable. In addition, an agreement was reached in the European Parliament environment committee on the timetable for negotiations: the vote in the environment committee on pesticides is scheduled for July, with a view to adoption in the European Parliament plenary in September.
This new timetable is still criticised by some groups, including the EPP. The European Parliament Committee on Environment has yet to reach agreement with the Parliament Committee on Agriculture (it has competence for certain articles of the text), which is asking to wait for the results of the impact assessment on the effects of the text on agriculture before taking a decision. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)