Pesticide dispute + Patent regulation + Green genetic engineering

Pesticide regulation: from rejection to tightening

By
Timo Landenberger

The rifts are deep in the dispute over the planned regulation on the more sustainable use of plant protection products. Even within the Environment Committee, which is the lead committee, the positions are far apart. Almost 3,000 amendments are an expression of this, and in principle, the discussion revolves around the question: Will the ambitious targets jeopardize food security in Europe and thus also the livelihood of numerous farms? After all, the Commission proposal provides for a 50 percent reduction in pesticide use by 2030.

Rapporteur Sarah Wiener (Greens) is convinced that the opposite is the case: only with a consistent reduction of chemical agents can ecological diversity be maintained in the long term, and that, in turn, is the basic prerequisite for sustainable food production. In her report, the MEP, therefore, calls for the Commission proposal to be tightened up, at least in part.

This includes increasing the reduction target for highly hazardous pesticides from 50 to 80 percent. These substances could be substituted and “should have been taken off the market already by 2015 according to the substitution principle, but that did not happen”, Wiener said. The politician also proposes stricter review mechanisms, including interim targets by 2026, to ensure “that member states are on the right track”.