A draft Omnibus regulation on Food and Feed reveals that the European Commission’s DG SANTE is attempting to deregulate all chemical pesticides. This comes under the guise of “simplification”, intended to facilitate access to the market to safer bio-pesticides. The proposal would grant indefinite EU approval of pesticide active substances, while removing the obligation for Member States to consider the most recent independent scientific evidence during national pesticide product authorisations. This industry-friendly move will drastically lower the level of protection of citizens' health and the environment. PAN Europe writes today to Commissioners, urging them to block the proposal.
In a report [1] submitted to the Council from 4 November 2025, DG Sante exposed its plan to grant unlimited period EU approvals for pesticide active substances, as requested by the pesticide industry [2]. It is a wish of the pesticide industry and would avoid discussions on the re-approval, for example, of glyphosate. The draft Omnibus regulation for Food and Feed is currently undergoing interservice consultation within the EU institutions until 24 November and contains a series of changes that would severely weaken the pesticide regulation (EC) 1107/2009.
Martin Dermine, Executive Director at PAN Europe, says: "DG Sante is using the market access of more biocontrol alternatives as a Trojan horse to dismantle core elements of EU protection from pesticides. This proposal abandons science. It will considerably weaken the protection of citizens' health and the environment against toxic pesticide substances, while serving the interests of the pesticide industry."
PAN Europe is deeply concerned by the following changes:
- Open-ended EU approvals for all pesticides: Currently, pesticides typically undergo a periodic revision every 10 to 15 years. Under the proposal, approvals would become unlimited. This would remove all incentives for the industry to examine any further negative effects on health or the environment. Nowadays, it is in the frame of these periodic reviews that toxic pesticides are identified and banned.
- Removal of Member States’ obligation to consider the latest independent science during national assessments of pesticide products. This effort tries to neutralise the effect of the April 2024 ruling of the EU Court, which clarified [3] the obligation of Member States to take into account the most recent science, before authorising a pesticide product at national level.
- Doubling the grace periods to keep using dangerous pesticides. Even when banned to protect people's health or the environment, pesticides could still be sold and used for 3 additional years. This means that citizens would remain exposed to very toxic substances, such as endocrine disruptors, carcinogens or neurotoxicants, for several additional years after their official ban.
Angeliki Lyssimachou, Head of Science and Policy at PAN Europe, adds: "Highly toxic pesticides such as chlorpyrifos, which affects brain development in children or mancozeb and thiacloprid, which impair reproduction or endocrine disrupting PFAS flufenacet would have never been banned under such a weakened system. Likewise, bee-killing neonicotinoids would still be in use today. It is independent science, not industry studies, that revealed their excessive toxicity."
In the meantime, EU citizens have regularly expressed their voices to demand the phase out of synthetic pesticides through public consultations, barometers, the Conference on the Future of Europe, two successful European citizen initiatives and an IPSOS opinion poll. In October, 138 civil society, scientific, water, and farming organisations across Europe [4] wrote to the European Commission President to improve enforcement of EU pesticide legislation, calling out any attempt to weaken it.
Martin Dermine concludes: "With this move, DG Sante is trying to take Europe more than 30 years backwards, to a time when pesticide toxicity was barely assessed for the protection of citizens and the environment. By overlooking the most recent scientific evidence and keeping banned pesticides longer on the market, the Commission is moving us towards a dark age where science is neglected and profit is prioritised over public health and environmental protection."
Contact:
- Martin Dermine, Executive Director, +32 486 32 99 92, martin [at] pan-europe.info
- Angeliki Lysimachou, Head of Science and Policy, +32 496 39 29 30, angeliki [at] pan-europe.info
Read our letter HERE.
Notes:
[1] https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-14737-2025-INIT/en/pdf
[2] https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiative...
[3] EU Court: member states do not properly carry out pesticide assessments | PAN Europe
[4] 130+ organisations urge von der Leyen to strengthen enforcement of EU pesticide law | PAN Europe
