Pesticides: EU People's Party forms up against food security

In addition to the extreme right, MPs from the People’s Party also want to sweep the new pesticide regulation off the table. The Commission calls for speedy further work.

Brussels (OTS) – The use of pesticides must be reduced, which was demanded not only by 700 researchers in an open letter, but also by over a million EU citizens. They have signed the “Save Bees and Farmers” initiative to protect biodiversity and species diversity and to preserve agricultural resources – such as living soil and clean water – for future generations. Today the Commission published its official response.

Sarah Wiener, Green MEP and rapporteur on the new Pesticide Reduction Ordinance (SUR)commented: “The commission does not hold out the prospect of new legislative projects, but it appeals to the member states and the EU Parliament to continue working on the pesticide regulation as quickly as possible. This is crucial because worrying trends are emerging just now, with the negotiations in Parliament approaching. In addition to the extreme right (ID) and Eurosceptic (EKR) groups, more and more MEPs from the European People’s Party (EPP) are now calling for the SUR proposal to be withdrawn. Basically, this is a refusal to work on pesticide reduction and goes against the will of committed citizens.”

In fact, withdrawing the regulation would also be a setback for agriculture, emphasizes Wiener: “Farmers have spent more and more on chemicals over the past 20 years, but their incomes have barely increased over the same period. Pesticides are found in soil, air and groundwater, throughout our food chain. Pollinator numbers are rapidly declining. Overuse of chemical agents threatens the resources we desperately need to sustain ourselves and enable a viable future. We’re sawing off the branch we’re all sitting on. That is why we need a sustainable change in agriculture. There are alternatives: agroecological measures, non-chemical prevention, i.e. integrated plant protection, and biological pesticides, to name just a few. The tools are all on the table, now we just have to pick them up.”

The full response from the Commission: Link