Pesticides: the good and bad pupils in the European Union
France is one of the biggest consumers of pesticides in the European Union.
Illustrative image.
REUTERS - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL
Text by: Paola Guzzo
4 min
On Sunday June 13, 2021, the Swiss refused by referendum the ban on synthetic pesticides.
A few days before, MEPs approved by a large majority a resolution calling on the European Union to ban glyphosate.
However, the 27 do not all have the same policy vis-à-vis plant protection products.
Overview of disparities.
Publicity
Read more
Glyphosate, neonicotinoids, chlordecone… These barbaric names sound more or less familiar to the ear today… And for good reason, these molecules are frequently at the heart of the news and are the subject of more and more studies , which placed them at the heart of the public debate. Combined with each other, they are used to create synthetic pesticides, chemicals made in the laboratory to protect agricultural crops. These are herbicides (against weeds), insecticides (against insects), fungicides (against fungi)… Over the years, the major issues of the danger they could represent for
the environment and public health
have led to political reactions to the highest European levels Already in 2009, the European Commission required member countries to set targets to reduce their use.
However, twelve years later, progress has been very uneven according to the countries of the Union.
Timid prohibitions
Some Member States have already implemented drastic reduction measures, for example for the world's most widely used herbicide, glyphosate.
In the leading pack: the Duchy of Luxembourg.
Since January 1, 2021, glyphosate is no longer welcome in the small country of 600,000 inhabitants.
In Denmark, a country in which agriculture represents two thirds of the total cultivable area, it is forbidden to spray glyphosate on new land, to avoid contaminating a larger area.
Next comes Austria which, without a procedural fault, would also have banned it on its soil for 2021, as well as Germany, which plans to limit its use by 2023.
Read also:
The Swiss refuse to ban synthetic pesticides
If France is one of the European pioneers in the fight against pesticides, words and promises have not yet really been acted upon. Since the Ecophyto plan of 2008, the country has banned around thirty of the most harmful phytosanitary products and banned the use of glyphosate in public spaces, private gardens and certain agricultural areas. But the government had also pledged to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2018, without success. On the occasion of a
new Ecophyto II + plan
, the State committed to phasing out glyphosate "
for a majority of uses
" by 2020 and it was finally decided to postpone the target to 2025 for all pesticides. "
We have the best target of all the countries of the European Union, the most ambitious, but it does not produce results.
We have not reduced the use of pesticides since then, we have even slightly increased,
”says François Veillerette, spokesperson for the environmental NGO Générations Futures.
(In case of display problem,
click here
)
Rethinking the food chain and the link to the product
“
We have very few tools at European level to compare countries with each other and understand what is happening in each. The situations are different,
”explains Philippe Baret, researcher at the University of Louvain, at the head of Sytra, a research group on agricultural transitions. Depending on the type of dominant crop, a country will need more or less phytosanitary products. Breeding, for example, requires very little, unlike intensive viticulture.
"
But at the level of actions and reflection, of political will, there are still good students
", adds the researcher who has just contributed to
a study on glyphosate
, in particular carried out with the National Research Institute. Agricultural (INRAE).
According to him, these good students could be, for example, Denmark, which is doing "substantive work on the risks associated with pesticides", Austria which has developed "a great capacity in terms of bio" or the State of Bavaria. , in Germany, which has stepped up communication campaigns in favor of organic products to develop the market and create a dynamic for local agriculture, by doing without "pesticides".
Read also: France: an NGO warns about the amount of pesticides in the air
"
In France, the mistake was to focus the question on the agricultural plot
", explains Philippe Baret.
For the researcher, for a country to be able to reduce or ban pesticides on its soil, it is first necessary to rethink the food chain and the link to the product: “
It is very difficult to act only on the agricultural sector without '' support with a virtuous chain.
The agricultural sector is faced with a double constraint: they have to reduce pesticides, but the market asks them to continue using them
”
.
"It's easier for some countries than for others"
There are countries in Europe which have not yet taken measures to combat pesticides, but it is difficult today to know the precise reasons for this reluctance. Influence of lobbies, job creation, European competition, lack of proposals for alternatives or subsidies ... The blocking of the ecological transition can be linked to many factors. The predominance, in certain countries, of sectors whose large-scale exploitation requires these products, such as viticulture, is also decisive, according to Philippe Baret: “
Luxembourg makes milk, which does not require glyphosate. It is easier for some countries than for others
”.
"
One of the arguments of pro-glyphosate is the lack of alternatives and after a while, it will no longer be credible
"
,
assures the Belgian researcher
.
Between more reasoned organic crops and pesticides of natural origin, many alternatives already exist and more ideas should emerge from the “Farm to Fork” strategy, tested by the European Union in the framework of the
Green Pact for Europe,
to propose a model of European food almost without pesticides.
But this “strategy” is not binding on the States, which may choose not to follow these recommendations.
A problem of "competence"
“
It's a question of competence. The EU has the legislative power to intervene on molecules and the Member States are competent to authorize or prohibit products, designed from the assembly of several molecules
”, deplores Éric Andrieu, Member of the European Parliament in charge of health issues. environment and former president of the “Pesticides” Commission of Inquiry (in 2018), which campaigns for both to depend on the competence of the Union: “
We can have a
“
non-dangerous
”
molecule
and a product that is ultimately very dangerous. So we will have to harmonize between the two levels, national and European
”.
Yet the ambition is there.
In May 2020, the European Commission joined the French target by projecting a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides in Europe, but this by 2030. The next real challenge will take place on December 15, 2022, date at which EU member countries will have to decide on renewing glyphosate for another five years.
On this subject, Philippe Baret is confident: “
Sensitivity to ecological issues is on the rise.
We have already rocked in our heads, we must now rock with the legs.
".
See also: Pesticides: a culprit-less health disaster
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
European Union
Environment
Agriculture and Fishing
our selection
France