NGOs call for 50% pesticide-reduction target

Published: Tuesday 6 March 2007 | Updated: Wednesday 7 March 2007

A Parliament hearing on 5 March 2007 explored ways to minimise the pesticide residues that can still be found beyond established limits in soil or groundwater. While NGOs called for a Europe-wide reduction in pesticide use, manufacturers said that training was the best option, rather than a ban which would cripple European agriculture.

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A hearing organised by the Party of European Socialists (PSE) debated the Commission's proposed 'thematic strategy' on the sustainable use of pesticides, following the Enivornment Council's recent backing of the strategy (EurActiv 21/02/07).

Pesticides are used primarily for 'plant protection' purposes but can pose risks for human health and the environment. On the other hand, the European pesticides industry employs around 26,000 and the use of pesticides enables greater yields for farmers.

Sofia Parente of the Pesticides Action Network said that the proposed legislation was necessary to reduce the impact and risks of pesticide use while emphasising that one of the major problems at the moment was the overuse of pesticides, as we presently "use far too much for what we want". Arguing for a reduction in use, in order to increase biodiversity, Parente called for the introduction of a European-wide target to reduce the frequency of pesticide use by 50% over ten years. She said that Denmark had managed to reach such a level in 20 years.

Lene Graversen, of the Danish environment ministry, said that the most important lesson her country had learned, and which should be adopted in the National Action Plans, was the inclusion of fixed goals, the inclusion of the public and media in the debate and the use of thorough economic analysis to create support for monitoring and to make measures easier to implement.

Volker Koch-Achelpöhler, director-general of the German Crop Protection Association, said that the risks were acceptable if there was proper use of pesticides, and in that respect he emphasised the importance of increased training rather than an outright ban. He said that the issue was one of "keeping farming going" and that a "75% reduction of crop protection products in the EU would lead to a €10 billion reduction in revenue for European farmers and a 40% reduction in crop production".

The Commission proposals will be examined by the Agriculture Council in June 2007.