The proposed reform of the Sustainable Use of pesticides Regulation (SUR), presented by the European Commission on 06/22/22, has come under attack from many quarters, and its implementation is likely to be delayed until after the new European elections scheduled for 2024.
The Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUR)
On 6/22/22, the European Commission, after years of trying, had succeeded in submitting a proposal to amend the so-called
Pesticides Regulation
. The Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (SUR) has the ambition of wanting to halve the use of pesticides in agriculture by 2030 (for Italy the reduction would be 62 percent) and ban their use by the same date in sensitive areas. (1)
Objectives contained in the broad blueprint of the European Green Deal and in line with commitments made in the Farm to Fork and
Biodiversity Strategy
. Even within the Montreal Cop15 on biodiversity, reducing pesticide use emerged as a central issue for the preservation of pollinating insects. Regulation also strongly advocated by the European Citizens’ Initiative
Save the Bees and Farmers
which brings together 1.1 million citizens from all European countries.
Why reduce pesticides?
Legambiente’s annual report “Stop Pesticides on the Plate,” in the latest edition just published, explains how the number of samples in which traces of pesticides were found increased (44.1 percent of samples). Only 54.8 percent of the samples tested were free of pesticides; last year it was 63 percent. Most of these are used in fruit, which has residues in 70.3 percent of the cases analyzed. (2)
Pesticides pollute soil and water by making the land less fertile; they are linked to the sharp decline of insects, especially valuable pollinators, but also to the threat of extinction of birds and plants. In addition to being harmful to humans. Even though we know of many of these dangers and consequences, the European Union continues to allow their use as an exception.
A new impact assessment to stall the proposal
Too bad that the legislative process of the SUR regulation was interrupted by yet another impact assessment requested on September 22 by Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia under the pretext that the assessment underpinning the proposal does not take into account the impact of the war in Ukraine on food security. (3)
As highlighted by Matthias Wolfschmidt, whenever new regulations are proposed that want to change the status quo, the agricultural industry plays the “hunger card.” Again, it seems that Europe, which boasts the world’s most efficient agricultural system and is the world’s leading food exporter, cannot meet the needs of its citizens without fertilizer and grain from Russia and Ukraine.
From the sealed minutes by Global 2000, an Austrian environmental association, it turns out that the countries supporting the new assessment on Nov. 16 became the majority.(4) Italy was added to the previous ones, along with Finland, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Portugal. The new impact assessment was therefore deemed necessary by the December 19 Energy Council, and it is now up to the Commission to give its opinion within six months. (5)
The actions of civil society and environmentalists
Save the Bees and Farmers had forwarded an open letter (5) to the ministers of Environment, Climate and Energy requesting that the impact assessment be withdrawn from the agenda, concerned about the consequences of undue delays on the adoption of the SUR. A second letter, signed by more than 600 scientists, stresses that reducing pesticides is a key step in halting and reversing the decline of biodiversity. (6)
Josef Settele, co-chair of the World Biodiversity Council and signatory of the open letter, spoke at a press conference organized by IFOAM Organics Europe on Dec. 6. He stated that ‘Policy efforts to move away from the sustainability goals of the European Green Deal, including reducing pesticide use and restoring biodiversity, do not protect us from the current food crisis, but lead to a worsening and make the crisis permanent. Global warming and biodiversity loss are already affecting crops and livelihoods around the world’. (7)
IFOAM Organics Europe President Jan Plagge, on the other hand, pointed out that already more than 300 thousand farmers in Europe are adopting the organic method or practicing agroecology, obtaining healthy, high-quality food in sufficient quantities. (7) And Italy may be an example, with 17.2 percent of farms having chosen the organic method against a European average of 9 percent.
Choosing the organic method means meeting the ever-increasing demand for healthy, chemical-free food. It also represents a reduction in costs on the part of farmers, as Ramona Duminicioiu of Eco Ruralis Association points out, given the high prices of pesticides following the war in Ukraine. As well as being the safest choice for the health of farmers and those living in rural areas. (7)
Despite the abrupt setback that the proposed regulation on pesticide use reduction has suffered, (8) the good news is that negotiations on the issue are continuing for the items not touched by the assessment. Nor will the battles of civil society stop.
Alessandra Mei
Notes
(1) The proposed Regulation for the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (SUR) https://food.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-06/pesticides_sud_eval_2022_reg_2022-305_en.pdf
(2) Legambiente, Stop Pesticides. Analysis of pesticide residues in food and good agricultural practices, 2022. https://www.legambiente.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Stop-pesticidi-2022.pdf?_gl=1*fe2kna*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTYzODcxNTQxMC4xNjcxNzIwOTIy*_ga_LX7CNT6SDN*MTY3MTcyMDkxOS4xLjAuMTY3MTcyMDkxOS4wLjAuMA.
(3) Request for impact assessment https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12601-2022-INIT/x/pdf
(4) IFOAM Organics Europes, Bold pesticide reduction plan faces attack on Saturday, 06.12.2022, https://www.organicseurope.bio/news/bold-pesticide-reduction-plan-faces-attack-on-saturday/
For the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9grCv7dY_Kg&t=1s&ab_channel=OrganicsEurope
(5) Acceptance of impact assessment by the Council https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/19/council-calls-for-a-complementary-impact-assessment-on-the-sustainable-use-of-plant-protection-products-proposal/
(6) Open letter from Save the Bees and Farmers https://www.organicseurope.bio/content/uploads/2022/12/Open-Letter-ECI-to-Council.pdf?dd
(7) Open letter signed by scientists: https://zenodo.org/record/7446449#.Y6RyRnbMK01
(8) On the long and troubled process of this reform, see. Marta Portocarrero. Timeline of the EU Sustainable use of pesticides regulation. Investigate Europe. 24.6.22 https://www.investigate-europe.eu/en/2022/timeline-of-eus-sustainable-use-of-pesticides-regulation/
Graduated in Law from the University of Bologna, she attended the Master in Food Law at the same University. You participate in the WIISE srl benefit team by dedicating yourself to European and international research and innovation projects.
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