Press releases
In a landmark decision, the Paris Court of Appeal has held the French State accountable for ecological harm resulting from outdated and inadequate pesticide environmental risk assessments. The ruling obliges the French State to update its pesticide evaluation protocols and review all pesticide authorisations within 24 months. This decision is partly based on a ruling by the EU Court of Justice in a case filed by PAN Europe, which concluded that EU States must base pesticide approvals on the most up-to-date scientific evidence. [1]
Het CTGB negeert arresten van het Europees Hof van Justitie, uitspraken van het College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven en recente inzichten van de Europese voedselautoriteit EFSA. De instantie besloot deze zomer tot verlengen van de toelating van de bestrijdingsmiddelen Dagonis en Pitcher, ondanks wetenschappelijk aangetoonde gevaren voor de gezondheid van gebruikers, omwonenden en consumenten en voor het milieu. Het Pesticide Action Network heeft beroep ingesteld tegen de besluiten.
PAN Europe is calling out the European Commission for its inaction on PFAS pesticides. These substances break down into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a highly persistent, mobile and toxic degradation product. TFA has been detected above legal limits in groundwater across Europe. PAN Europe argues that the Commission is failing to meet its legal obligations under EU law to protect groundwater and public health.
The EU has banned the PFAS pesticide flufenacet because it’s harmful to human health and contaminates groundwater with its breakdown PFAS product, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a smaller but still toxic “forever chemical”. Yet, this dangerous pesticide will continue to be used on Europe’s crop fields for up to 18 months, according to the official EU decision. This is the maximum ‘grace’ period possible according to the EU Pesticides law, provided only for pesticides that are banned for reasons other than health or environmental protection.
Where the world is on fire with various wars, the EU is continuing an invisible chemical war, exporting tonnes of banned, toxic pesticides to all corners of the world. Today, the “End Toxic Pesticide Trade Coalition” (1) demands to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, alongside more than 600 organisations, to keep its 2020 promise and put an end to the EU production, export and residue imports of those banned pesticides.
Long-term exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides causes cancer in laboratory animals at doses deemed “safe” by EU authorities, according to a new landmark publication. Despite early warnings shared with EU authorities in 2023, this critical evidence was ignored during glyphosate’s reapproval process, resulting in its reapproval for another ten years. PAN Europe warns these findings directly contradict EU risk assessors’ conclusions and raise serious concerns about the adequacy of current safety standards and compliance with EU law.
Today, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU concluded that the European Commission acted unlawfully by re-approving the pesticide cypermethrin with major toxicity data gaps in the reapproval dossier, by relying on non-validated and unrealistic risk mitigation measures, and by disregarding toxicity to insects. The Advocate General agrees with many arguments put forward by PAN Europe in this appeal case against the EU re-approval of cypermethrin, a highly toxic insecticide. [1]
Today’s ‘Water Resilience Strategy’ by the European Commission makes bold claims but offers little ambition in protecting water resources from one of its most persistent threats: pesticide pollution. Rather than tackling pollution at its source, it leans heavily on downstream "clean-up" technologies that still need to be developed. Even more concerning is the lack of support for existing legislation aiming to transition Europe towards a farming model that does not rely on pesticides.
PAN Europe and Global 2000 call for an immediate ban of PFAS pesticides
PAN Europe welcomes ECHA’s publication of the German proposal to classify TFA as toxic to reproduction. The substance is a breakdown product of PFAS pesticides. We urge the EU to take immediate action by banning PFAS pesticides, a key source of pollution in water and food with this forever chemical.
