The agri-agriculture committee of the European Parliament has postponed the discussion of the SUR proposal to halve pesticides in agriculture until further notice. As a result, the consideration of the final proposal in the ENVI environment committee is also uncertain.
Critics say that Christian Democrats and right-wing factions in the European Parliament are trying to push the controversial pesticide proposal beyond the European elections in June 2024.
The additional impact assessment presented last month by the European Commission was scheduled to be discussed on Wednesday (July 19), but this has been postponed. No new date has been set yet, although it is known that the ENVI environment committee wants to discuss it in September and have it ratified at the plenary parliamentary session in October.
This environment committee leads on the discussions for most parts, but the agriculture committee has shared consent rights on some paragraphs. Rapporteur Sarah Wiener (Greens) has submitted dozens of amendments to the Commission proposal originally presented last year.
Previously, the center-right factions tried in vain to block the proposal for a Nature Restoration Law. A significantly weakened version of that has recently been adopted in the European Parliament, on which final agreement still needs to be reached in the trilogue negotiations.
The chair of the ENVI environment committee, the French liberal Pascal Canfin, said last week in Strasbourg that he will not allow new blocking actions from EPP/CDA, Renew/VVD, and ECR/SGP within his committee. This indicates that the process will proceed in September regardless.
The Greens have called on EU Presidency Spain to complete the handling of the SUR pesticide proposal during their presidency (until the end of December). However, there is a chance that due to the upcoming Spanish parliamentary elections (this weekend), Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas may be replaced midterm, potentially causing delays in the processing.