Activities of Michèle RIVASI related to 2022/0196(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Sustainable use of plant protection products (debate)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the sustainable use of plant protection products and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115
Amendments (22)
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2019 on the implementation of Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides41noted that the Union must act without delay to transition to a more sustainable use of pesticides , including addressing imported agricultural products treated with banned or restricted pesticides in the European Union,and called on the Commission to propose an ambitious Union-wide binding target for the reduction of pesticide use. The European Parliament re-affirmed its call for binding reduction targets in its resolution of 20 October 2021 on a Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system42, which entails to promote an agricultural model that does not depend on chemical pesticides and does not put at risk our health and that of our environment. _________________ 41 P8_TA(2019)0082, 12 February 2019. 42 P9_TA(2021)0425, 20 October 2021.
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) Third countries receiving pesticides often have less stringent protective regulations and limited technical capacity to handle hazardous substances, resulting in toxic exposure affecting their populations, in particular in local communities, and their environment, with severe impacts on human health, ecosystems, biodiversity, and the economy. These circumstances are especially relevant in low- and middle- income countries, which have been at the receiving end of hazardous chemicals and pesticides from high-income countries for decades.
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4 a (new)
Recital 4 a (new)
(4a) This Regulation should comply with the principle of policy coherence for development, as enshrined in Article 208 of the TFUE, which holds that the "Union shall take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries". On this line, the Commission and the Member States, must ensure that pesticides banned from the European market are not exported to third countries, in particular developing countries, given its harmful environmental and public health impact. In the absence of an EU-wide ban, multinational pesticide companies can avert national bans by continuing their export trade through subsidiaries companies located in other Member States. This ban must be coupled with partnerships and cooperation mechanisms, which include support measures to assist developing countries in the necessary transition to agroecology and sustainable practices, in particular by investing in research to find alternative solutions to hazardous pesticides and to reduce the use and risk of pesticides. Such a shift would meet the objective of reducing the risks posed by the use of pesticides and would help combat soil degradation, drought and desertification.
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4 b (new)
Recital 4 b (new)
(4b) Pesticides are widely used throughout developing countries, and the demand for them is increasing due to the shift in agricultural policies, from traditional food production for local consumption to export-oriented production. The EU has a major role to play in supporting low and middle-income countries in the transition from intensive agriculture to more sustainable, agroecological practices, through the provision of technical and financial assistance, strengthened research and capacity building programmes, notably in the framework of the Rotterdam Convention, with the view to reduce the use and risk of pesticides and find alternatives to hazardous pesticides, as well as support collaboration among developing countries to reinforce pesticide risk regulation.
Amendment 5 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11 a (new)
Recital 11 a (new)
(11a) Relations between the European Union and developing countries, most notably in Africa, cover partnerships on green transition. As noted in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the protection of biodiversity is an indispensable part of the fight against environmental degradation, habitat fragmentation and loss of natural environments and, as consequence, of prevention of environmental hazards, contributing amongst others to health threats, such as zoonoses. The One Health approach, that reinforces the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, includes the nexus between biodiversity and health. In addition, pesticides, frequently detected in concentrations exceeding legal or environmental standards, are a source of diffuse pollution, contaminating water, harming aquatic organisms, marine and coastal ecosystems. As the pollution of surface and underground waters and the depletion of water resources, more generally, are major concerns for our international partners, the EU should give a special attention to the consequences of pesticides on the aquatic environment in developing countries, as provided within the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 "Guarantee access to water and sanitation for all and ensure sustainable management of water resources". While chemical pesticides can have a serious impact on biodiversity, habitats, ecosystems and the food-chain and therefore on public health, biological control agents are also an effective alternative without destructive effects. It is therefore appropriate to support partner countries in integrated pest management innovations and in the availability, accessibility and affordability of integrated pest management solutions, focusing in particular on smallholder farmers. The Commission and the Member States should support research programmes targeting integrated pest management innovations and provide technical and financial support for the implementation of integrated pest control in developing countries.
Amendment 6 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. The Commission shall support the implementation of integrated pest management in developing countries, notably through provision of technical and financial assistance and strengthen research in the fields of agro-ecology, organic farming and integrated pest management as an alternative to hazardous pesticides, in particular with a view to protecting biodiversity and human health, and implementing the One Health approach.
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11 a (new)
Recital 11 a (new)
(11 a) Relations between the European Union and developing countries, most notably in Africa, cover partnerships on green transition. As noted in the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the protection of biodiversity is an indispensable part of the fight against environmental degradation, habitat fragmentation and loss of natural environments and, as consequence, of prevention of environmental hazards, contributing amongst others to health threats, such as zoonoses. The One Health approach, that reinforces the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, includes the nexus between biodiversity and health. While chemical pesticides have detrimental effects on biodiversity, habitats, ecosystems and the food-chain and therefore on public health, including through the spread of infections from animal reservoirs, biological control agents are an effective alternative without destructive effects. It is therefore appropriate to support partner countries in integrated pest management innovations and in the availability, accessibility and affordability of integrated pest management solutions, focusing in particular on smallholder farmers. The Commission and the Member States should support research programmes targeting integrated pest management innovations and provide technical and financial support for the implementation of integrated pest control in developing countries.
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. The Commission shall support the implementation of integrated pest management in developing countries, through provision of technical and financial assistance and strengthen research in the fields of agroecology, organic farming and integrated pest management, in particular with a view to protecting biodiversity and in line with the One Health approach.
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Chapter VI a (new)
Chapter VI a (new)
Amendment 348 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9 a (new)
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) The Court of Justice issued a ruling on 19 January 2023 in Pesticide Action Network Europe and Others v État belge (Case C-162/21), stating that Article 53(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 does not permit Member States to use the so-called “emergency derogation” to allow the placing on the market or use of certain plant protection products or seeds treated with those products if their marketing and use has been explicitly prohibited by EU legislation.
Amendment 455 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
(18a) Herbicide-tolerant crops lock farmers into a weed management system that is largely or wholly dependent on herbicides, as farmers purchase such seed in order to be able to spray the complementary herbicide. The use of herbicide tolerant crops accelerates the emergence and spread of resistant weeds, thereby triggering the need for even more herbicide use, a vicious circle known as ‘the herbicide treadmill’. A number of studies1a show that herbicide-tolerant crops result in a higher use of complementary herbicides, in large part because of the emergence of herbicide- tolerant weeds. __________________ 1a See, for example, Bonny, S., ‘Genetically Modified Herbicide-Tolerant Crops, Weeds, and Herbicides: Overview and Impact’, Environmental Management, January 2016;57(1), pp. 31- 48, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/262 96738 and Benbrook, C.M., ‘Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. - the first sixteen years’, Environmental Sciences Europe; 28 September 2012, Vol. 24(1), https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articl es/10.1186/2190-4715-24-24
Amendment 2209 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 1
Article 19 – paragraph 1
1. The use of all plant protection products is prohibited on all surface waters, including intermittent surface waters, and within 310 metres of such waters. This 3 metrAt least 5 metre of this buffer zone shall be vegetated and the buffer zone shall not be reduced by using alternative risk- mitigation techniques.
Amendment 2230 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 2
Article 20 – paragraph 2
Amendment 2245 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 3
Article 20 – paragraph 3
Amendment 2248 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 4
Article 20 – paragraph 4
Amendment 2257 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 5
Article 20 – paragraph 5
Amendment 2261 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21
Article 21
Amendment 2317 #
Proposal for a regulation
Chapter VI – title
Chapter VI – title
Amendment 2355 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 a (new)
Article 24 a (new)
Amendment 2356 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 24 b (new)
Article 24 b (new)
Amendment 2727 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 42 a (new)
Article 42 a (new)
Article 42a Access to justice 1. Members of the public, who have a sufficient interest or who claim a violation of a right, shall have access to a review procedure before a court of law, or an independent and impartial body established by law, to challenge the substantive or procedural legality of the national action plans and any failures to act of the competent authorities, regardless of the role members of the public have played during the process for preparing and establishing the national action plan. 2. Member States shall determine in national law what constitutes a sufficient interest and violation of a right, consistently with the objective of providing the public with wide access to justice. For the purposes of paragraph 1, any non-governmental organization promoting environmental protection shall be presumed to have rights capable of being violated and their interest shall be deemed sufficient. 3. Review procedures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be fair, equitable, timely and free of charge or not prohibitively expensive, and shall provide adequate and effective remedies, including injunctive relief where necessary. 4. Member States shall distribute publicly practical information on access to the administrative and judicial review procedures referred to in this Article.
Amendment 2736 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 43 a (new)
Article 43 a (new)
Article 43a Amendments to Regulation EU 649/2012 Regulation EU 649/2012 is amended in a way that all banned active substances listed in Annex I are added to Annex V.