The Agriculture Ministers of most EU countries find the Commission's proposal to halve the use of chemicals in agriculture within a few years completely insufficient. They believe that the calculation method (‘everyone half less’) unfairly affects countries that have already significantly reduced their use or already use very little.
The offered relaxation (‘EU average minus 35%’) also does not help farmers in those countries, say the ministers. Many Agriculture Ministers also fear a total ban in ‘vulnerable areas,’ while it is still unclear which areas will be designated. Furthermore, nowhere has it yet been established exactly how or what will be measured: in kilos of chemicals, usage per hectare, or kilos used per gross product.
Almost all EU member states fear a decline in yield if chemical pesticides are halved. On Monday, they requested a completely new impact assessment at the EU Agriculture Council. Other countries asked for an ‘update’ of the figures, especially since the nitrogen regulations in the June nature restoration plans have become more specific.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski showed some understanding for these criticisms afterwards. He explained that in EU member states the annual amount of active substance used varies between 9 and 0.5 kilos per hectare. The Agriculture Commissioner believes that a fair solution must be found in negotiations between the Commission, the Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament.
In fact, only Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands still fully support the current Green Deal plans for making agriculture more sustainable. But even Acting Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten already stated in her recent annotated parliamentary letter that limiting chemical agents without agricultural losses will only be possible if new techniques (crispr-cas?) and new natural fertilizers are allowed.
‘The EU Commission must also dare to look at its own legislation and remove the distinction between the use of artificial fertilizer and high-quality fertilizers from recovered sources,’ the Netherlands believes.
EU Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides says that the European Commission is willing to reach a compromise regarding the calculation model and the total ban in ‘vulnerable’ areas. However, the EU Commission does not want to abandon its proposal. The regulation for ‘less chemicals and more organic’ is not established by the Agriculture Ministers and the Agriculture Committee, but by the Environment Council and the ENVI environment committee.
Commissioner Wojciechowski has already said that the European Commission will come forward with the long-awaited proposal for new GMO techniques in agriculture and horticulture by mid-next year. Because many EU member states (such as Spain and France) say they only want to discuss ‘less chemicals’ if there are ‘sufficient alternative crop protection agents available,’ the Council of Ministers will likely link these two dossiers next year around mid-year.