On Monday 18 December, 77 European NGOs representing farmers, consumers and environmental organisations, including PAN Europe, wrote to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, calling on her to maintain an ambitious legislative proposal on the sustainable use of pesticides.
They take note of the European Parliament’s decision (rejecting the amended text), but believe that the issues addressed in the proposal “are of the utmost importance” for the health of citizens, the preservation of nature, halting the collapse of biodiversity and, therefore, maintaining productive agricultural ecosystems to guarantee food security.
“EU citizens continue to demand effective measures to reduce the use of pesticides and the risks they pose”, as demonstrated in particular by the two European citizens’ initiatives (ECI) “Save Bees and Farmers” and “STOP Glyphosate”, according to the NGO group.
The pesticides dossier will be examined by the EU Council at the beginning of 2024, under the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13311/11), following the progress made under the Presidency of the Spanish Minister, Luis Planas.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/a6i (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)