A public hearing on pesticide use and biodiversity is set to take place in the European Parliament on Tuesday (January 24), when numerous speakers will discuss reducing the use of chemicals on farm.
The Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (PETI) will sit at the hearing, which will run from 2:30p.m until 6:30p.m.
The meeting will also be livestreamed on the Parliament’s website, meaning members of the public can attend remotely.
A number of speakers will address the committees, including Wageningen University’s Prof. Jeroen Candel, who will highlight weaknesses of pesticide use impact assessments, and the importance of taking action to reduce their use.
Soil scientist Prof. Violette Geissen will also speak at the hearing. She will present insights on the recent results of studies carried out on pesticide residues and the effect of these on human health and the environment.
French farmer Jean-Bertrand Lozier will share his experience with pesticides on the day. He will outline how he reduced pesticide use on his 80ha farm by 80% without a loss in production, and will discuss maintaining profitability without these substances.
In a statement, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe said this hearing is coming at “an important moment” as the European Commission’s proposal to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030 is met with strong criticism.
“The voice of 1.1 million Europeans who signed the Save the Bees and Farmers citizens’ initiative will be presented [at the hearing].
“They call for an 80% reduction of synthetic pesticides by 2030 and a full phase out by 2035.
“They want farmers to be rewarded for working with nature,” added the organisation.
PAN stated that this proposal will be outlined at the hearing where MEP’s will ask questions and offer comments on the matter.
The proposed pesticide reduction regulation and a separate nature restoration law are both part of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy. Both are due to be debated by the EU Council, with a final decision made by the end of 2023.
However, the network has warned of the consequences, should this timeline be delayed.
“We need to act fast. We face a biodiversity collapse and there can be no sustainable food production without biodiversity.
“A failure would delay the EU Green plans by at least 10 years and we don’t have that time,”, stated Martin Dermine, a representative of the European Citizens Initiative.
“The EU already agreed in 2009 to strongly reduce pesticides but this ‘sustainable use directive’ was not implemented by member states and the promised reduction never materialised,” stated PAN Europe representative Helmut Burtscher-Schaden.
“Therefore the Commission now proposes a binding regulation.
“Which is good and urgent, but we need a lot more ambition to give ourselves, our children and the generations to come a future,” he concluded.