Press releases
EU Member States agreed to a proposal to ban one of Europe’s most toxic pesticides. The fungicide dimoxystrobin was authorised for use in 15 EU Member States. Pesticide Action Network cheers the decision. It is one of ‘The Toxic 12’ that now has gone down to 10. However, the decision should have been taken 7 years ago.
45 million loaves of bread. That was the argument of a conservative Austrian politician to allow crops on use areas destined for nature and biodiversity. One year later we see the results. Hardly any human food, only animal feed was grown. We lost 40% of the Ecological Focus Areas in the EU. Now the same 'hunger game' is played by the EPP to stop the urgent pesticides reduction. Fake arguments are pushed in the name of farmers. It only makes farmers more dependent on the agrochemical industry and it harms health and biodiversity.
PAN Europe welcomes the new EU Guidance Document on the risk assessment of pesticides on bees. After 10 years of political blockade, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published an updated version of this guidance. It confirms that an urgent upgrade of the way pesticide toxicity is assessed in the EU is needed. PAN Europe supports a quick implementation of the guidance at EU- and national-levels.
DG Sante and EU Member States keep taking decisions that support the use of harmful pesticides. This is a violation of the EU pesticides legislation, the provisions of which aim to ensure a high level of protection for humans, animals and the environment. To address this maladministration PAN Europe filed 2 requests to the Commission to review its decisions. One concerns the new regulation on the identification of unacceptable co-formulants and the other concerns the Commission practice to keep approving highly toxic pesticides in greenhouses.
"Save Bees and Farmers" appeals for responsibility to ensure our common future of agriculture
Europe could and should be much healthier and biodiverse. Four years ago the PEST Committee in the European Parliament concluded after 9 months of investigations, hearings, missions and commissioning of studies that the current system of pesticides authorisation is failing to achieve its purpose, highlighting the need for urgent change.
Today the European Commission presented their formal reply to the 1,1 million citizens who signed the European Citizens Initiative “Save Bees and Farmers”. They welcome the initiative as a clear sign of broad public support for action for pollinators, biodiversity and sustainable farming. They urge the European Parliament and the Council to find swift and ambitious agreements on the legislative proposals to reduce pesticides and restore biodiversity.
European Citizens' Initiative calls for constructive negotiations
This year the EU will decide on the re-approval of glyphosate[1], the active ingredient of the most popular and controversial weed killer around the world. Exposure to the herbicide not only poses a risk to human health and a variety of living organisms but it also threatens biodiversity and the future of agriculture. European Citizens have already demanded its ban[2].
By law, European citizens have the right to know why highly toxic pesticides are kept on the market, against scientific advice. The EU Commission refuses to respect the law, and respond to 2 Access To Documents (ATD) requests from PAN Europe, aiming at better understanding why cypermethrin, a highly hazardous pesticide, was reapproved by the Commission, despite of the negative opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). PAN Europe has decided to bring this transparency issue to the EU Court again.
