Activities of Hiltrud BREYER related to 2006/0132(COD)
Plenary speeches (4)
Framework for Community action to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides - Placing of plant protection products on the market (debate)
Framework for Community action to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides - Placing of plant protection products on the market (debate)
Framework for Community action to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides - Placing of plant protection products on the market (debate)
Framework for Community action to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides - Placing of plant protection products on the market (debate)
Amendments (44)
Amendment 13 #
Citation 1
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 152(4) and 175(1) thereof,
Amendment 14 #
Recital 1
(1) In line with Articles 2 and 7 of Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme, this Directive establishes a common legal framework for achieving a sustainable use of pesticides should be established, taking account of the precautionary principle.
Amendment 15 #
Recital 2
(2) At present, this Directive should apply to pesticides which are plant protection products. However, it is anticipated that the scope of this Directive will be extended to cover biocidal products by 2012.
Amendment 16 #
Recital 4
(4) National Action Plans aimed at setting quantitative objectives, targets, measures, indicators and timetables to reduce risks and impacts of pesticide use onpesticide use and the risks to human health and the environment and at encouraging the development and introduction of Integrated Pest Management and of alternative non-chemical approaches or techniques in order to reduce dependency on the use of pesticides should be used by Member States in order to facilitate the implementation of this Directive. National Action Plans mayshould be coordinated with implementation plans under other relevant Community legislation and could be used for grouping together objectives to be achieved under other Community legislation related to pesticides.
Amendment 18 #
Recital 9
(9) Considering the possible risks from the use of pesticides, in particular their acute and chronic health effects and their environmental effects, consumers and the general public should be better informed on the overall impacts of the use of pesticides particularly through the media but also through awareness- raising campaigns, information passed on through retailers and other appropriate measures about both the health and environmental risk and short and long-term adverse effects related to the use of pesticides and about non-chemical alternatives. Member States should monitor and collect data on impacts of pesticide use, including poisoning incidents, and promote long- term research programmes on the effects of pesticide use.
Amendment 21 #
Recital 12
(12) Aerial spraying of pesticides has the potential to cause significant adverse impacts on human health and the environment, in particular from spray drift. Therefore, aerial spraying should generally be prohibited with derogations possible where it represents clear advantages in terms of reduced impacts on human health and the environment in comparison with other spraying methods, or where there are no viable alternatives, provided that the best available technology to reduce drift is used (e.g. low-drift nozzles) and the health of residents or bystanders is not affected.
Amendment 22 #
Recital 14
(14) Use of pesticides can be particularly dangerous in very sensitive areas, such as Natura 2000 sites protected in accordance with Directives 79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC. In other places such as residential areas, public parks, sports grounds or children's playgroundsand recreation grounds, school grounds and children's playgrounds, and in the vicinity of public healthcare facilities (clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, health resorts, hospices), the risks from exposure to pesticides of the general public are high. Use of pesticides in those areas should, therefore, be prohibited, restricted or the risks arising from such use minimised.
Amendment 24 #
Recital 16
(16) The application of general principles and crop and sector specific guidelines of Integrated Pest Management by all farmers would result in a better targeted use of all available pest control measures, including pesticides. Therefore, it contributes to a further reduction of the risks to human health and the environment and the dependency on the usereduction of pesticides use. Member States should promote low pesticide-input pest management, in particular Integrated Pest Management, and establish the necessary conditions and measures for its implementation. Additionally, Member States should implement mandatory crop- specific standards of Integrated Pest Management. Member States should use economic instruments for the promotion of Integrated Pest Management to provide advice and training for farmers, and to reduce the risks of pesticide use. A levy on pesticide products should be considered as one of the measures to finance the implementation of general and crop- specific methods and practices of Integrated Pest Management and the increase of land under organic farming.
Amendment 30 #
Article 1
This Directive establishes a framework to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides by reducing their use and the risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment in line with the precautionary principle and promoting the use of Integrated Pest Management and of alternative approaches or technique, giving priority to non-chemical methods.
Amendment 31 #
Article 2 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Member States may provide subsidies or take fiscal measures to encourage the use of less harmful pesticides. This may include the introduction of a pesticides levy on all products except non-chemical products or low-risk plant protection products as defined in Article [50(1)] of Regulation (EC) No ... [concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market].
Amendment 32 #
Article 2 – paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. The provisions of this Directive shall not prevent Member States from applying the precautionary principle in restricting or prohibiting the use of pesticides.
Amendment 33 #
Article 3 – point 1 a (new)
1a) "use" means all operations carried out with a pesticide, such as storage, handling, dilution, mixing, and application;
Amendment 39 #
Article 3 – point 9 a (new)
9a) "use reduction" means reduction of applications of pesticides and is not necessarily dependent on volume;
Amendment 41 #
Article 3 – point 9 b (new)
9b) "treatment index" is based on the fixed standard dose of active substance per hectare needed for one treatment against the pest in question. Therefore, it is not necessarily dependent on volume and can be used to evaluate use reduction.
Amendment 42 #
Article 4 – title
National Action Plans to reduce risks and use of pesticides
Amendment 44 #
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
1. Member States shall adopt, and implement without undue delay, National Action Plans to set up targets, measures and timetables to reduce risks, including hazards, and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment and to encouragsure the development and introduction of integrated pest management and of alternative approaches or techniques, giving priority to non-chemical methods of plant protection and pest and crop management, in order to reduce dependency on and the use of pesticides. The National Action Plans shall as a minimum include: (a) for other than biological pesticides and low-risk plant protection products as defined in Article [50(1)] of Regulation (EC) No ... [concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market], quantitative use reduction targets measured as a treatment index. The treatment index will be adapted to the specific conditions of each Member State. The treatment index will have to be communicated immediately to the Commission for its approval. For active substances of very high concern the reduction target shall be a reduction of at least 50% in relation to the treatment index calculated for the year 2005 by the end of 2013, unless the Member State can prove that it has already achieved a comparable or higher target based on another year of reference from the period 1995-2004; (b) for pesticide formulations classified as toxic or very toxic pursuant to Directive 1999/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 1999 concerning the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations1, a quantitative use reduction target measured as sold volumes. This target shall be a reduction of at least 50% calculated in relation to the year 2005 by the end of 2013, unless the Member State can prove that it has already achieved a comparable or higher reduction target based on another year of reference from the period 1995-2004. Member States shall establish a mechanism for financing the introduction of the National Action Plans. 1 OJ L 200, 30.7.1999, p. 1.
Amendment 49 #
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. By ...*, Member States shall adopt background reports in accordance with Annex IIa with the objective of identifying national trends in pesticide use and risks and the priority areas and crops to be addressed in the National Action Plan. * One year after the entry into force of this Directive.
Amendment 51 #
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
National Action Plans shall be reviewed at least every five years and any substantial changes to National Action Plans shall be reported to the Commission without undue delay. three years and, depending on the attainment of objectives, updated. Monitoring shall also include an analysis of whether the risks in the Action Plan are appropriately taken into account or if they need to be reassessed. Any changes to National Action Plans and the findings of the monitoring shall be reported to the Commission without undue delay. The Commission shall establish an Internet portal to inform the public about the National Action Plans, any changes and the results of their implementation.
Amendment 52 #
Article 4 – paragraph 3
3. Where relevant, tThe Commission shall make information communicated in accordance with paragraph 2 available to the public on the Internet.
Amendment 53 #
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Member States shall ensure that professional users, distributors and advisers are aware of the existence and risks of illegal (counterfeit) plant protection products, and are properly trained to identify such products.
Amendment 57 #
Article 7
1. Member States shall take measures to inform the general public and to promote and facilitate information and awareness- raising programmes and the availability of accurate and balanced information relating to pesticides for the general public, in particular regarding the risks, including hazards, and the potential acute and chronic effects for human health, non-target organisms and the environment andrising from their use, and to the use of non-chemical alternatives. 2. Member States shall put in place mandatory systems for gathering information on pesticide acute and chronic poisoning incidents, especially among pesticide operators, workers, residents and any other groups that may be exposed to pesticides regularly. 3. Member States shall regularly monitor and collect information on indicator species exposed to pesticides and on pesticides in the environment, such as in fresh and marine waters, soil and air, and report on this information regularly to the Commission. 4. Member States shall carry out research programmes into specific situations where pesticides have been linked to impacts on human health and the environment, including studies on high-risk groups, biological diversity and combination effects. 5. To enhance comparability of information, the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall develop by ...* a strategic guidance document on monitoring and surveying of impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment. * Three years after the entry into force of this Directive.
Amendment 60 #
Article 8 - paragraph 1
1. Member States shall ensure that pesticide application equipment and accessories in professional use shall be subject to mandatory inspections at regular intervals. The interval between inspections shall not exceed five years until 202015 and shall not exceed three years thereafter.
Amendment 62 #
Article 8 - paragraph 3 – point b
Amendment 64 #
Article 9 - paragraph 2 – point b
(b) the pesticides used must be explicitly approvuthorised for aerial spraying by the Member State following a specific assessment addressing risks from aerial spraying; substances classified as very toxic (R50) to aquatic organisms shall not be authorised for aerial spraying;
Amendment 65 #
Article 9 - paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
(da) the area to be sprayed must not be in close proximity to public or residential areas and there must be no effects on the health of residents or bystanders;
Amendment 66 #
Article 9 - paragraph 2 – point d b (new)
(db) the aerial craft must be equipped with the best available technology to reduce spray drift (e.g. low-drift nozzles); where helicopters are used, the spray booms must be equipped with injection jets to reduce drift.
Amendment 71 #
Article 9 - paragraph 3
3. Member States shall designate the authorities competent for establishing the specific conditions by which aerial spraying may be carried out and. The competent authority is responsible for authorising aerial spraying following a request pursuant to paragraph 4 and for makeing public information on crops, areas, circumstances and particular requirements for application including weather conditions where aerial spraying may be allowed. TIn the authorisation the competent authorities shall specify the measures necessary for warning residents and bystanders in good time and to protect the environment in the vicinity of the area sprayed.
Amendment 72 #
Article 9 - paragraph 4
4. A professional user wishing to apply pesticides by aerial spraying shall submit a request in due time to the competent authority to apply pesticides by aerial spraying accompanied by evidence to show that the conditions referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 are fulfilled. Member States may provide that requests for which no answer was received on the decisiThe notification shall con taken within the time period laid down by the competein information about the time of spraying and the amounts authorities shall be deemed to bend the type of pesticides approvlied.
Amendment 73 #
Article 9 - paragraph 6
6. The competent authorities shall keep records of the requests submitted under paragraph 4 and shall make them available to the public.
Amendment 75 #
Article 10
1. Member States shall ensure that appropriate measures to protect the aquatic environment and drinking water supplies from the impact of pesticides are adopted. These measures shall support and be compatible with relevant provisions of Directive 2000/60/EC and Regulation (EC) No …. 2. The measuretake the necessary action to protect bodies of water, in particular by ensuring that buffer zones, where pesticides must not be applied or stored, are established on fields adjacent to water courses, and in particular to safeguard zones for the abstraction of drinking water established in accordance with Article 7(3) of Directive 2000/60/EC. The dimensions of the buffer zones shall be defined as a function of the risks of pollution and the agricultural and climate characteristics of the area concerned. Furthermore Member States shall ensure that, in safeguard zones for the abstraction of drinking water in accordance with Article 7(3) of Directive 2000/60/EC, additional measures are taken to prevent contamination of water with pesticides including, where necessary, tighter restrictions on use of some high-risk products, enhanced use of buffer zones, specific training and awareness of advisers and spray operators, and strict enforcement of best practice in filling, mixing and disposal of pesticides. Member States may establish any pesticide-free zones they deem necessary in order to safeguard drinking water resources. Such pesticide-free zones may cover the entire Member State. 2. In addition to the actions provided for in paragraph 1 shall include, Member States shall take the following measures: (a) giving preference to pesticides that are not classified as dangerous for the aquatic environment pursuant to Directive 1999/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 1999 concerning the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations nor containing priority hazardous substances as set in Article 16(3) of Directive 2000/60/EC; (b) giving preference to the most efficient application techniques such as the use of low-drift pesticide application equipment especially in vertical crops such as hops and those found in orchards and vineyards; (c) use of mitigation measures which minimise the risk of off-site pollution caused by spray drift, drain-flow and run- off. These shall include when necessary the establishment of appropriately-sized buffer zones for the protection of non- target aquatic organisms and safeguard zones for surface and groundwater used for the abstraction of drinking water, where pesticides must not be used or stored; (d) reducing as far as possible or if appropriate eliminating applications on or along roads, railway lines, very permeable surfaces or other infrastructure close to surface water or groundwater or on sealed surfaces with a high risk of run-off into surface water or sewage systems.
Amendment 81 #
Article 11 –title - introductory part and point 1
Reduction of pesticide use orand risks in specificensitive areas Member States shall, having due regard tofor the necessary hygiene and public health requirements and biodiversity, or the results of relevant risk assessments, ensure that the use of pesticides is prohibited, or restricted tor the risks arising from such use minimisedminimum necessary, in: 1) all areas used by the general public or by vulnerable populations, such as groups, at least in residential areas, parks, public gardens, sports and recreation grounds, school grounds and playgrounds; and in the vicinity of public healthcare facilities (clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, health resorts, hospices) as well as in substantial no-spray zones including in fields around these areas.
Amendment 84 #
Article 13 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take appropriate measuresll necessary measures, including the use of economic instruments, to promote low pesticide- input pest management, giving priority wherever possible to non-chemical methods and otherwisof plant protection and pest and crop management, and to ensure that professional users of pesticides switch as quickly as possible to practices and products with the lowest risk to human health and the environment among those available for the same pest problem. Low pesticide-input pest management includes Integrated Pest Management as well as organic farming according to Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products.
Amendment 87 #
Article 13 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall establish or support the establishment of all necessary conditions for the implementation of Integrated Pest Management and non- chemical methods of plant protection and pest and crop management. In particular, they shall ensure that professional users have at their disposal information, training and tools for pest monitoring and decision making, as well as advisory services on integrated pest management. and non- chemical methods of plant protection and pest and crop management, and shall draw up descriptions of the best integrated crop protection practices, assigning priority to non-chemical crop protection.
Amendment 88 #
Article 13 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall establish appropriate incentives, training and financial measures to encourage professional users to implement crop or sector specific guidelines for integrated pest management on a voluntary basis. Public authorities and/or organisations representing particular professional users may draw up such guidelines. Member States shall. Member States shall take into account the general criteria as described in Annex IIIa and refer to those guidelines that they consider pertinent and appropriate in their National Action Plans drawn up in accordance with Article 4.
Amendment 89 #
Article 13 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. The general standards for Integrated Pest Management shall be developed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article [58] of Regulation (EC) No ... [concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market], with public participation of interested stakeholders.
Amendment 90 #
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
1. Harmonizsed risk indicators as referred to in Annex IV shall be established. HoweverUntil those indicators are adopted, Member States may continue to use existing national indicators or adopt other appropriate indicators in addition to the harmonized ones.
Amendment 92 #
Article 14 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall communicate the results of the evaluations carried out pursuant to paragraph 2 to the Commission and to other Member States and shall make this information available to the public.
Amendment 93 #
Article 14 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
The results shall be made available to the general public via the Internet portal referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 4(2).
Amendment 103 #
Annex I – paragraph 6
6. Procedures for preparing pesticide application equipment for work, including its calibration, and for its operation with minimum risks to the user, other humans, non-target animal and plant species, biodiversity and, the environment and water resources..
Amendment 104 #
Annex I – paragraph 8
8. Emergency action to protect human health and, the environment and water resources in case of accidental spillage and, contamination and extreme weather events that would result in pesticides leaching risks.
Amendment 105 #
Annex I – paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Special care in protection areas established under Articles 6 and 7 of Directive 2000/60/EC.
Amendment 106 #
Annex II a (new)
Amendment 107 #
Annex II b (new)
Amendment 108 #
Annex III a (new)