A Romanian court of appeal had the final say in a long, toxic story. There can be no more derogation to use banned pesticides. The court case was brought by our Romanian member, beekeeper organisation Romapsis, together with farmers' organisation Eco Ruralis.
The long discussion started with the first restrictions on the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides in 2013, due to their excessive toxicity to bees. They were not allowed anymore on bee-attractive crops. These pesticides were then banned in the EU in 2018. Many EU countries systematically used an ‘emergency’ measure to justify continued use. In 2023, following a litigation initiated by PAN Europe, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that providing derogations to pesticides that were banned for health and environmental reasons in the EU was not allowed. Following this ruling, all countries stopped the use of these derogations, except Romania. Romanian NGOs took the case to a national court and succeeded. A win for health and the environment.
PAN Europe exposed the systematic abuse of the pesticide derogation clause and won in 2023 with a groundbreaking ruling by the EU Court of Justice. [1, 2] The Court clarified that a derogation cannot be given to pesticides that were explicitly banned for environmental or health reasons. Furthermore, the court explained that a derogation can only be used when there is an unforeseen problem for which no alternative is available, when food security is at stake. It cannot be used year after year.
In the case of Romania, since the first restrictions on neonicotinoids in 2013, derogations were given every year, for pests that are linked to maize, rapeseed and sunflower monocultures. Not really the conditions planned by the legislation and the caselaw. But the Romanian government ignored the ruling and continued to issue derogations. For several years, we asked the EU Commission to take action against this infringement of EU law, and they did only in 2025, after the first judgment of the Romanian Court. [3]
Romanian organisations Romapis (beekeepers) and Eco Ruralis (small-scale farmers' union) challenged new derogations in court and won. The State appealed, but now the higher court has made a final end to the derogation practice. [4]
Of course, now the ban must be enforced in the field.
Science against use of neonicotinoids
The well-known Romanian emeritus professor and former agriculture minister, Valeriu Tabără, stated again and again that 'in Romania there is no problem with neonicotinoids'. We co-organised a scientific debate including the internationally renowned bumblebee expert Professor Dave Goulson. He clearly explained that a wide range of scientists agree that neonicotinoids are a severe threat to the insect population. Also in Romania. [5]
New proposal by the Romanian government: change EU law
Now Romania has proposed to exclude seed treatment (with neonics) from the EU pesticide regulation. And they're also one of the countries advocating for including a socio-economic impact assessment on crop production in the pesticide assessment. That would violate the basic principle of the law (protection of health and environment above crop production) and bring back the derogation: "This pesticide might be very bad for health and environment, but we need it, so we're going to use it anyway."
A broad coalition of citizens, scientists and organisations opposes weakening the pesticide law as proposed by the European Commission in the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus. [6]
Notes:
[1] Banned pesticides still widely used: How EU Member states abuse emergency authorisations, PAN Europe, January 2023
[2] Groundbreaking EU Court ruling should stop all highly toxic pesticide derogations – now
[4] Cluj appeal court verdict: The court revokes Authorization No. 16895/05.12.2024, Authorization No. 16896/05.12.2024, and Authorization No. 16897/05.12.2024, issued by the defendant, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
[5] Debunking pesticides in Romania: A sustainable agriculture is possible (recording of the Bucharest conference)
