The European Parliament unexpectedly rejected the amended proposal on the sustainable use of pesticides on Wednesday 22 November, due to the different positions of the political groups during the vote.
The proposal called for a 50% reduction in the use and risks of chemical plant protection products at EU level by 2030, compared with the 2015-2017 period.
The EPP Group and the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture succeeded in pushing through amendments designed to considerably weaken the initial ambitious position of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, led by the rapporteur, Sarah Wiener (Greens/EFA, Austrian). For this reason, the amended proposal after the vote was rejected in plenary (207 votes in favour of the amended proposal, 299 against and 121 abstentions), mainly by the S&D, Greens/EFA (Ms Wiener abstained) and The Left groups and around twenty members of the Renew Europe group, including French MEPs Pascal Canfin and Stéphane Séjourné. The EPP Group voted in favour of the amended proposal, while the ECR Group vote was divided (mainly abstentions and votes against) and the ID Group voted against the amended proposal (vote p.130 – https://aeur.eu/f/9oe ).
Parliament then voted against referring the text on pesticides back to the Environment Committee, which should put an end to the future of this dossier during this legislature.
The rapporteurs on this dossier and the political groups – notably the Greens/EFA and S&D – have asked for a break before the plenary vote on the amended proposal, in order to assess the situation, confirmed Pascal Canfin, chairman of the Environment Committee. Following this assessment, the S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups and part of the Renew Europe group felt that it would be better to refer the dossier back to the Environment Committee than to have such a weak mandate given the objectives of the text.
A majority of the Renew Europe group and the S&D and Greens/EFA groups voted in favour of referral back to committee, but an alliance of the EPP, ECR, ID and part of the Renew Europe group preferred to refuse referral back and therefore not to have a text at all. “There will therefore be no European law to reduce pesticides”, said Mr Canfin, whose view is that “the alliance of the right and extreme right voted against continuing the work in committee”.
For Ms Wiener, it is highly unlikely that there will be a second reading in Parliament on this pesticides text, due to lack of time. Furthermore, it remains to be seen what the Council will decide, as Parliament should vote on the Council’s position, since it has not finalised its first reading. Another unlikely option would be for the Commission to withdraw its proposal.
For example, the amendments passed in plenary by the EPP would have removed the higher level of reduction for the most dangerous pesticides (-65%). The 50% reduction target would have been a purely European target, with member countries able to agree national targets among themselves, with a minimum reduction target of 35% (see EUROPE 13297/4).
The Left group denounced “a toxic alliance” between the EPP, the Liberals and the far right. “The EPP group has tried to remove all obstacles to aerial spraying, which is a very dangerous practice”, said Claude Gruffat (Greens/EFA French).
“Today is a good day for farmers and for all those who believe that the EU should refrain from imposing new burdens on them”, welcomed Peter Liese (EPP, German). “The Commission’s flawed proposal has suffered a humiliating defeat; it’s time to stop playing sorcerer’s apprentice when it comes to environmental policy and take account of the realities of farmers on the ground”, said Anne Sander (EPP, French).
“Parliament recognises that the regulation was ill-calibrated, unrealistic, unfunded and ideological”, said Christiane Lambert, President of Copa (the EU’s farmers’ organisation).
IFOAM Organics Europe deplored Parliament’s inability to agree on the text, while PAN Europe said the European Green Deal was dead because MEPs “voted against a healthy future for us and our children”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)