Ban on phytosanitary products: Timmermans presses the mushroom
Josef Koch, Bavarian Agricultural Weekly Journal, dans AGRARHEUTE
© IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans lobbies for environmental law. The Council and Parliament must finally quickly implement the Green Dealsays Mr Timmermans referring to the European Citizens’ Initiative ” Save the bees and the farmers! ».
The European Commissioner for Climate Action calls on the Council and Parliament to quickly approve the ban on plant protection products, extensification and set-aside. The European citizens’ initiative Save the bees and the farmers! is behind this decision.
The implementation of the legislative projects on the banning of phytosanitary products and the restoration of nature is too slow for the European commissioner for the climate Frans Timmermans.
It asks the European Parliament and the Council to quickly and uncompromisingly adopt the legislative proposals already presented, which should contribute to the protection and recovery of pollinator populations in Europe.
But that shouldn’t be the case. It is only recently that the European Parliament agreed on a timetable for defining its negotiating position on the sustainable use of plant protection products. Thus, MEPs only want to vote in October.
More than a million signatures for a citizens’ initiative in favor of the protection of bees
With his request, Mr. Timmermans reacts to theEuropean citizens’ initiative Save the bees and the farmers! » This had collected more than one million signatures in the EU.
It asks the Commission to ensure the phasing out of synthetic pesticides by 2035, to restore biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and to support farmers in their transition to sustainable agriculture.
For the climate commissioner, the success of the citizens’ initiative is a clear sign of broad public support for the Commission’s measures in favor of pollinators, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
M. Timmermans with en garde : « Farms are the first to suffer the consequences of massive droughts or a shortage of pollinators “. Use less than chemical pesticides is, according to him, a condition for nature to recover and for bees, butterflies and other pollinators to continue their essential work in the fields and orchards of Europe.
He promises that the Commission will help farmers switch to more sustainable methods. In addition, it wants to guarantee alternatives to chemical pesticides as soon as possible.
The European Commission wants to help farmers
From the point of view of European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) helps farmers to better protect pollinators by supporting, for example, habitat conservation, organic farming, agroecology and conservation programmes. sustainable beekeeping.
According to Commission data, the population of one in three species of bees, butterflies and hoverflies is in decline. At the same time, 80 percent of useful and wild plant species depend on animal pollination. Half of the agricultural land in the EU is already threatened by a lack of pollination. Without pollinators, food security and ultimately life on earth are at risk, warns Timmermans.
EU proposals at a glance
In detail, the Commission cites the following measures in the Green Deal European Union, with which it wants to guarantee the sustainability of food systems:
For Mr Timmermans, these Commission proposals and initiatives constitute a comprehensive response to the demands of the European Citizens’ Initiative to save the bees. This is why the Commission does not wish to present additional legislative proposals in response to the European citizens’ initiative.
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* Source : Plant protection ban: Timmermans pushes the tube | agrarheute.com