The Council of the European Union adopted, on Wednesday 27 May, its position on only part of the package simplifying rules in the field of food safety.
This ‘omnibus X’ package, presented in December 2025, is intended to simplify the rules and procedures covering a wide range of areas, from plant protection products and biocidal products to feed, including official controls.
Following the swift adoption of the EU Council mandate on the proposal for a regulation extending the data protection periods relating to biocides, and then the formal adoption of the act on 11 May, work continued on other proposals (see EUROPE 13866/9).
However, the hardest part still remains to be done: the EU Council must still reach a position on maximum residue levels as well as on the arrangements for authorising pesticides.
Use of drones. The directive on the sustainable use of pesticides prohibits aerial spraying, while allowing Member States to grant derogations on a case-by-case basis.
The proposed amendments are intended to facilitate the use of drones for targeted pesticide applications that may present a risk equivalent to or lower than that of ground applications.
The EU Council mandate maintains the existing derogation from the ban on aerial spraying in special cases, as well as an additional derogation, as proposed by the Commission, for certain types of drones, including where the conditions for special cases are not met.
The text also provides for:
- clarification of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)’s mandate, covering guidance on the risk assessment of plant protection products (PPPs) that can be sprayed by drones, as well as the types of drones and their conditions of use;
- a period of 30 months for the adoption of the delegated act identifying the types of drones authorised for spraying;
- for aerial spraying by vehicles other than certain drones, the possibility for Member States not to require individual approval for each application of PPPs, provided that a validated application plan exists;
- transitional measures allowing the use of drones until the delegated act is adopted, provided that the existing conditions for aerial spraying are met and that the European Commission and EFSA are notified within 30 days following national authorisation.
Farm animals. The directive currently requires farmers to keep records of medicinal treatments given to animals and of the number of mortalities. However, similar record-keeping is required by the regulation on veterinary medicinal products and by the Animal Health Law.
The proposed amendments therefore aim to remove these overlaps in order to simplify the administrative obligations weighing on operators.
Plastic materials. Two directives from 1982 and 1985 cover matters related to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. Those materials are, however, already covered by a 2011 EU regulation. The EU Council is therefore proposing that those two directives be repealed in order to improve legal certainty and clarity.
The Cyprus Presidency of the EU Council will continue work on the last remaining proposal in the package, with the aim of quickly reaching agreement on an overall EU Council mandate with a view to negotiations with the European Parliament on the package as a whole (see EUROPE 13863/7). Link to the Council’s mandate: https://aeur.eu/f/m2c (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)