News Europese Commissie
EU crop protection plan encounters wall of criticism
The European Commission made far-reaching proposals on Tuesday to restore nature in Europe and to halve the use of plant protection products. There is strong criticism from various sides of the plans of European Commissioner Frans Timmermans. Food security at world level is under pressure and the committee ignores this in the proposals.
The legislative proposals presented by the European Commission are a follow-up to the biodiversity strategy and the farm-to-fork strategy. For the agricultural sector, the plan is to reduce the use of crop protection products by 50% by 2030. "We have made progress in tackling the climate crisis and today we are adding two laws that represent a huge step forward in tackling the looming ecocide", said Frans Timmermans during the presentation. “If we restore nature, it can continue to provide clean air, water and food, and we can protect ourselves from the worst effects of the climate crisis. By reducing the use of pesticides, we also contribute to the recovery of the In addition, in this way we protect the people who work with these chemicals." The proposal still has to be passed through the European Parliament and the Council.
food crisis
The Christian Democrat EPP group, which includes the CDA and the ChristenUnie, has reacted critically to the committee's plan. "Now is not the time to come up with proposals for reducing the use of pesticides and restoring nature," Herbert Dorfmann, agricultural spokesperson for the EPP group, said in a statement. "We are in the worst food crisis of our century. The committee should then not come up with proposals that could be at the expense of European food production."
Criticism is also coming from the agricultural sector. The sustainability goals are supported, but food security must not be lost sight of, among others CEJA (association of young farmers), Grain Club (association of grain traders), Crop Life Europe (association of the chemical industry). Several players from the green lobby are satisfied with the proposal, but are afraid that the discussion will be hijacked by the 'occasional argument food security' and time of war' and that too many concessions will ultimately be made by the committee.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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