Nikolaus Kriz, Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) since September 2025, spoke to MEPs, on Wednesday 15 April, in support of the objectives of the European Commission’s proposal on pesticide authorisation procedures, which is part of the simplification package on food safety adopted last December (see EUROPE 13815/24).
Regulation 1107/2009 is clear, Mr Kriz told the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment: the majority of the work, namely the assessment by the rapporteur Member State, is done at national level before being subject to peer review at EFSA level. Of approximately 400 active substances that are authorised, nearly 200 are awaiting renewal. “So it has created, if you so wish, a traffic jam”, he admitted.
The most direct solution to this bottleneck would be for Member States to strengthen their capacity to speed up assessments at national level. Would additional resources for EFSA be helpful? “Of course”, replied the Executive Director, who is a qualified veterinary surgeon.
The proposal provides for EFSA to act as rapporteur Member State for biocontrol agents. To this end, the allocation of 15 additional posts is envisaged. “And we are ready” to take on this role, assured Nikolaus Kriz.
“What we see is a constructive and (...) pragmatic proposal to try and help with that jam by decreasing the backlog of pesticide renewals over time”, he said.
With regard to authorisations with no time limit, he believes that the questions raised by the MEPs are perfectly legitimate. “The way I understand the proposal is that it’s one that moves towards a more targeted risk-based approach. It’s up to you to decide whether that is finally acceptable”, he said.
The underlying aim would be to move away from a uniformly time-bound approach (which currently contributes to the clogging up of the system) towards a more targeted approach, enabling resources to be focused on the substances presenting the highest risks.
According to EFSA’s Executive Director, substances identified as presenting a high level of concern “from what I see from the proposal, remain with limited approval durations. Of course, this is up for you to decide where this lands exactly”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)