The twenty-seven are concerned about the consequences of the regulations on the use of pesticides on agricultural yields, already threatened by the war in Ukraine.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
The twenty-seven ratified, Monday, December 19, their request for a new impact study on regulations aimed at slashing the use of pesticides in the European Union (EU), delaying discussions on this text , to the chagrin of non -governmental organizations (NGO), already indignant by the extension for one year of the authorization of glyphosate.
The European Commission had detailed, at the end of June, its roadmap to reduce by half by 2030, compared to the period 2015-2017, use and risks on the EU scale of Chemical or dangerous pesticides, by banking them almost completely protected natural areas.
This draft text had aroused a fierce resistance of part of the member states, worried about the fate of cultivators left “without alternative” and a possible fall in agricultural yields, while the war engaged in Ukraine by Russia upsets the global cereal and fertilizer markets.
anxiety of environmental NGOs
After a recent discussion between the Ministers of Agriculture of the Twenty-seven, the member states “ask the Commission to provide an additional study” on the text within six months, said the on Monday evening Czech presidency of the EU. The impact study previously carried out “is based on data collected before the start 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 concerning the potential impact on the agricultural sector and the potential increase in European food dependence”, he adds.
In the meantime, “only the work at the technical level on the not concerned points will continue”, notes the press release, recalling that the twenty-seven also expect “flexibilities” in the national objectives assigned to each State.
Environmental NGOs fear in particular that the delay led by the expectation of a new study prevents regulations from being adopted before the European elections of 2024 – it will have to be the subject of negotiations between States and MEPs.
“It is a strategy to kill this anti-pesticide plan, using the food crisis linked to Ukraine as justification, but this opposition is part of the protection of major agricultural interests”, estimated, in early December, Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, expert in the Austrian NGO Global 2000 and co-initiator of the “Save Bees and Farmers” initiative.
The authorization of prolonged glyphosate of at least one year
Furthermore, for lack of consensus between the member states on the subject, the European Commission formally adopted, in early December, its decision to extend for one year the authorization of glyphosate in the EU, awaiting A crucial scientific assessment on this controversial herbicide. The current authorization, renewed in 2017, expired on December 15.
Now, 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 the extension or not, for five years, of the authorization issued to the herbicide.