2023-10-24 20:30:00
Tuesday October 24, after tough negotiations, MEPs voted for a drastic reduction in the use of pesticides on the Old Continent. While the left judges that this is not yet enough, the right and the majority agricultural unions are fuming.
This was a key text of the Green Deal, proposed in June 2022 by the European Commission. It dragged on, but was taken up by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, finally being adopted today, by 47 votes to 37.
The two key measures of the text are the following: reduce the use of “the most dangerous” pesticides by 65% by 2030 (including glyphosate); ban chemical pesticides in “sensitive areas” (urban green spaces, playgrounds and sports grounds, public paths, Natura-2000 areas, etc.)
As reported by AFP, to the great dismay of elected environmentalists, the outright ban on glyphosate was rejected.
The PPE group (right) was fiercely opposed to it, as were the majority agricultural unions (Copa-Cogeca): “Faced with the impact of the war in Ukraine (on the cereal markets), this proposal seriously endangers the “(European) independence in terms of food security”, said Austrian conservative MP Alexander Bernhuber on Monday, citing the risk of a fall in yields which would lead to increased imports.
Opposite, the rapporteur of the text Sarah Wiener was pleased to have found “achievable compromises” at the end of a debate “ideologically charged and dominated by lobbying” from agrochemicals. These compromises are based in particular on the promotion of “substitute components”, “low-risk pesticides” that MEPs want to see become more widely available.
The text must now be voted on in plenary in November, before future negotiations with the States, once they have decided on their position.
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