The EU is putting the brakes on.

The Twenty-Seven ratified Monday their request for a new impact study on the regulations aimed at slashing the use of pesticides in the EU, delaying discussions on this text.

At the end of June, the European Commission had detailed its roadmap to halve by 2030, compared to the period 2015-2017, the use and risks at EU level of chemical or dangerous pesticides, by almost completely banishing protected natural areas.

This draft text had aroused fierce resistance from some of the Member States, worried about the fate of farmers left "without alternative" and a possible drop in agricultural yields, while the war waged in Ukraine by Russia is upsetting the markets. world cereals and fertilizers.

After a discussion last week of the ministers of Agriculture, the States “Ask the Commission to provide a complementary study” on the text within six months, indicated Monday evening the Czech presidency of the EU.



The impact study previously carried out "is based on data collected before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine" and could "not take into account the long-term impact on food security" of the EU, specifies the communicated.

This study “does not provide adequate quantitative analyzes regarding the potential impact on the agricultural sector and the potential increase in European food dependency”, he adds.

In the meantime, "only work at the technical level on the points not concerned will continue", notes the press release, recalling that the Twenty-Seven also expect "flexibilities" in the national objectives assigned to each State.

A “strategy” denounced by NGOs

Environmental NGOs fear that the delay caused by the wait for a new study will prevent the regulations, which will ultimately have to be the subject of negotiations between States and MEPs, from being adopted before the European elections of 2024. is a strategy to kill this anti-pesticide plan, using the food crisis linked to Ukraine as a justification, but this opposition is part of the protection of the great agricultural interests", estimated at the beginning of December Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, expert of the Austrian NGO Global 2000 and co-initiator of the “Save Bees and Farmers” initiative.

Moreover, in the absence of consensus between the Member States on the subject, the Commission formally adopted its decision at the beginning of December to extend for one year the authorization of glyphosate in the EU, pending a crucial scientific assessment on this controversial herbicide.

The current authorisation, renewed in 2017, expired on December 15.

However, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced in May the postponement to July 2023 of a long-awaited study on “the risks of exposure to glyphosate for animals, humans and the environment”.

This evaluation is considered essential to decide whether or not to extend, for five years, the authorization issued to the herbicide.

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  • pesticides

  • European Commission

  • Glyphosate