06/06/24 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 5 June, the NGOs Pan Europe, Nature et Progrès and Bond Beter Leefmilieu announced that they had taken Belgium to the Council of State for re-authorising, until 2039, the use of three pesticides containing abamectin, a substance that is ‘highly toxic for the environment’, according to Pan Europe’s Executive Director. In addition to being dangerous, this authorisation would be contrary to European law, which only authorises it in hermetically sealed areas. The reasons for this contradiction: different legal definitions of a ‘greenhouse’: a system that is necessarily closed, according to the EU, whereas Belgium is satisfied with walls and a floor, which leads to contamination of the surrounding aquatic spaces. The directive amending the Belgian definition was adopted following the EU ban on pesticides containing abamectin outside enclosed spaces. (PC - intern)