Brussels withdraws pesticide law, vows to involve farmers in new proposal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday that she will withdraw the proposal for a new law on the sustainable use of pesticides, whose processing in its current form has failed in Parliament and the Council, and promised that she will involve the agricultural sector more in the drafting of the next draft.

The European Commission’s (EC) legislative initiative on pesticides, presented in June last year, set legally binding targets at EU and national level to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides and the use of the most dangerous pesticides by 50% by 2030, and faced pushback from the European agri-food lobby over fears about their impact on food safety. “The Commission proposed legislation on the sustainable use of pesticides with the valuable aim of reducing the risks of chemicals to protect plants. But the proposal has become a symbol of polarization. It has been rejected by Parliament and there is no further progress in the Council either. That is why I will propose to withdraw the proposal,” von der Leyen said.

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