Dangerous pesticides, the European Parliament's Environment Committee approves the 65 percent reduction

A proposal approved by the European Environment Commission raises the reduction targets for dangerous pesticides and bans their use in all sensitive areas.

• The European Parliament's Environment Committee raises the reduction targets for dangerous pesticides to 65 percent.
• The text prohibits the use of chemical pesticides in public green spaces, in biodiversity conservation sites and around crops.
• For environmentalist and organic farming associations, it is a positive signal which will hopefully be confirmed in the next votes.

Reduce by at least 50 percent the use and risk of synthetic chemical pesticides and of 65 percent the use of most dangerous pesticides by 2030:This is the proposal that, on 24 October, the Environment Commission of European Parliament approved with 47 votes in favour, 37 against and 2 abstentions.

For environmentalist and organic farming associations, the vote represents a decisive change of pace because it presents more stringent objectives compared to proposal presented by the European Commission which set the reduction target at 50 percent.

The proposal on the reduction of pesticides approved by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament

The MEPs' text asks for ban the use of chemical pesticides in sensitive areas like all urban green spaces including parks, playgrounds, sports fields, public paths, Natura 2000 sites (biodiversity conservation zones) and in a five-metre buffer zone in all agricultural areas. He also states that the use of chemical pesticides should be considered only as last resort between European Union countries, as established in Integrated Pest Management.To provide farmers with substitute substances, Parliament is calling for a European target for 2030 to increase sales of low-risk pesticides, six months after the entry into force of the regulation.Finally, it goes for the Environment Commission prohibitedexport of pesticides not approved in the European Union and verified that i imported products meet European standards.The Italian MEPs present in the Environment Commission were divided in their vote:PD and 5Star Movement spoke in favor of reducing pesticides, while Fratelli d'Italia, Forza Italia and Lega voted against.

As approved, the reduction targets for each Member State will no longer be set by the Commission, but each state will have to set its own national objectives, based on annual sales, the level of danger of the substances used and national agricultural surfaces.The Commission will verify whether the national objectives are coherent for achieving the European objectives for 2030. As regards theItaly, the Commission set a reduction target of 62 percent for all pesticides and 54 percent for the most dangerous ones.If the final text of the regulation is confirmed, Italy will have to set reduction objectives in its National Pesticide Action Plan (expired in February 2019).

A positive signal that must be confirmed

“This vote by the Environment Commission is a positive signal after months of controversy and attempts by agricultural associations and industry to block the discussion on the new regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides and for a significant reduction in synthetic chemical substances”, he comments Eva Alessi, sustainability manager of WWF Italy.“Today an important step forward in the right direction has been taken on the road to the ecological transition of agriculture in Europe.”

The political direction on reducing the use of pesticides will now have to be confirmed by the vote in the plenary of the European Parliament, scheduled between 20 and 23 November 2023, after which the final negotiation between the European legislative bodies to reach final approval.