Reports

Citizens across seven EU countries overwhelmingly want stronger protection from pesticides, regardless of their political views. A new YouGov poll covering France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain reveals that EU citizens massively support phasing out pesticides and reject replacing the periodic safety reviews of pesticides with unlimited approvals. These views are held across party lines.

Strawberries are among the most popular fruits in Europe. Europeans’ strawberry consumption is high, and production has increased over the last decade in several countries. Strawberries are considered as healthy fruits for their vitamin C and antioxidant contents. Being particularly consumed by children in sometimes high quantities, it is of major importance to ensure they are free from pesticides, despite intensive production methods.

In 2025, PAN Europe played a key role in prioritising the protection of human health and the environment. We encouraged EU institutions to strengthen - rather than weaken - rules on pesticides and water pollution, resisting industry-driven deregulation. We solidified our position as the leading NGO in terms of policy, legal and scientific expertise. Through our legal work, we secured major clarifications from the EU Court on how the European Commission and Member States must implement the law.

Brussels, 29 January 2026 - Apples are among the most consumed fruits in Europe. Their local production has intensified over the last decades and their production methods heavily rely on pesticides. Conventional apples are sprayed on average around 30 times a year with pesticides.

This report presents the first EU-wide assessment of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in conventional cereal-based food products and reveals alarming levels of contamination across Europe. TFA is a highly persistent and reprotoxic chemical that currently escapes monitoring by food safety authorities, making these findings unprecedented at the EU level.

All over Europe, farmers and municipalities are proving that food can be produced in a healthy, caring, fair and ecological way, without pesticides or with a minimal amount. Many farmers across Europe have already managed to phase out pesticides or substantially reduce their use.

TFA is an ultra‑short PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance) and the final breakdown product of several PFAS, and particularly PFAS pesticides. It has become one of Europe’s most widespread yet overlooked pollutants. Exceptionally persistent, highly mobile and soluble, TFA travels easily through soils, accumulates in groundwater, and contaminates our drinking water and food.

The worrying rise of TFA in cereal products

In 2024, we made important steps in banning some of the most hazardous pesticides. On the other hand, a real setback was the complete withdrawal by the EU Commission of its flagship pesticide legislative proposal from the EU Green Deal. The upgrade of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) to a Regulation (SUR) should have resulted in legally binding measures to achieve a 50% reduction in pesticide use and risk in general and 50% reduction in use of the more hazardous ones by 2030.

The Rapid Rise of TFA Contamination Across the EU

This report presents an investigation into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) contamination in wine carried out across ten European wine-producing EU countries by members of the European Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe). Our findings reveal an alarming and rapidly intensifying environmental issue that has remained unnoticed for too long by the public and policymakers alike.