Pesticide use: Staudte disappointed by lack of majority
Lower Saxony's Agriculture Minister Miriam Staudte has reacted with disappointment to the failure of an EU regulation to reduce the use of pesticides to protect the environment. The EU Commission's proposal to significantly reduce the use of weedkillers and pesticides in the EU did not receive a majority in a vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The fact that no compromise was reached was no cause for celebration, said the Green politician. "It is important that reduction targets for plant protection products are defined."
The Agriculture Minister pointed out that politicians, farmers and conservationists in the federal state had already agreed to reduce the use of pesticides as part of the so-called Lower Saxony Way in order to strengthen biodiversity.
"The fact that, after almost a year and a half of negotiations, the basis for the start of the trilogue negotiations with the Commission and the Council for the regulation has not even been established is bad news for the environment and for farms," said Staudte. As it could now take a long time before an EU regulation could be adopted after all, Lower Saxony wanted to use the time to drive forward the reduction of pesticides at state level.
Landvolk Niedersachsen called the negative decision "logical". The requirements had gone too far for many farms. "We not only have an existing plant protection law that has long prescribed the sparing use of chemical pesticides," said Hartmut Schlepps, the Landvolk's environmental officer. "Farmers in Lower Saxony are also constantly looking for ways to further reduce their use." Both conventional and organic farms were relieved by the decision, the state farmers' association added.
Despite Miriam Staudte's advocacy for defining reduction targets for plant protection products in agricultural policy to protect the environment, the EU's proposal to reduce pesticide use did not receive a majority in the Environmental Parliament. Given this setback, Staudte emphasized the need for Lower Saxony to push forward with reducing pesticide use at the state level, utilizing chemical knowledge in agriculture to achieve environmental goals.
Source: www.dpa.com
