2023-06-26 04:00:36
“Stop pesticides. Conservation now! – Video campaign and open letter to the ministers Totschnig, Gewessler and Rauch
Vienna, Brussels, Luxembourg (OTS) – At today’s taking place EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture Austria’s Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig negotiated with the other European Ministers of Agriculture once more the legislative proposal for EU pesticide reduction (Sustainable Use Regulation, short: SUR). Recently, the proposal of the Council position became known, which proposes important measures to reduce pesticides to be implemented voluntarily by the Member States. The environmental protection organization GLOBAL 2000 is therefore appealing today with the action “Stop pesticides – species protection now” to the ministers Norbert Totschnig, Leonore Gewessler and Johannes Rauch to get involved constructively in the European negotiations on pesticide reduction: “Stand up for an effective pesticide reduction that secures the productivity of agriculture for future generations !” is the demand of the activists, who also ask the ministers in one open letter to transfer.
Voluntary measures instead of mandatory pesticide reduction?
With the law on EU pesticide reduction, the EU Commission wants to halve the use of pesticides in the EU by 2030 and protect biodiversity and the health of Europeans. One of the central measures for achieving the goal of reducing pesticides is the mandatory use of “Integrated Plant Protection Management” (IPM): With gentle soil cultivation, well thought-out crop rotation, the use of beneficial insects or biological plant protection, chemical-synthetic pesticides are only used as a last resort in an emergency Application.
Environmental protection organizations now fear a sham. Because a leaked compromise proposal from previous council negotiations, which is available to GLOBAL 2000, shows that ministers want to make a voluntary IPM out of the mandatory integrated plant protection management. “The compromise proposed by the Council even falls short of the currently applicable standards of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD). This is absolutely unacceptable and diametrically opposed to the aims of the Commission’s proposal,” criticizes Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, GLOBAL 2000 environmental chemist. “There is now an urgent need – in the midst of a biodiversity and climate crisis – to support farmers to reduce the use and risk of pesticides. Binding standards and fair competitive conditions are needed throughout the EU. That is why we call on Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig, Minister of the Environment Leonore Gewessler and Minister of Health Johannes Rauch in one open letter to ensure that mandatory implementation of integrated pest management is anchored in the new regulation.”
With the campaign “Stop Pesticides. Conservation now!” (Video, Photos) in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, the environmental protection organization GLOBAL 2000 underlines the urgency of its request to the responsible ministers Norbert Totschnig, Leonore Gewessler and Johannes Rauch.
Background: law instead of directive
The current Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) has clearly failed to achieve the goal of reducing risk and dependence on pesticides. Numerous evaluations by Court of Auditorsdie EU Commission and Parliament have concluded that this is the result of unclear rules and that “clearer criteria and more specific IPM requirements are needed to ensure enforcement of the Directive and assess compliance”. The EU Pesticide Reduction Act (SUR) is intended to provide this clarity. However, Member States are trying to water down this and turn the SUR into a sham.
Service-Links:
Photos (Flickr Album), Video (YouTube), open letter (PDF)
Questions & contact:
Selina Englmayer, GLOBAL 2000 press officer, +43 699 14 2000 26, [email protected]
Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, GLOBAL 2000 environmental chemist, +43 699 14 2000 34, [email protected]
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