It remains unclear whether the Council of Ministers and the Members of the European Parliament can agree on the remainder of Frans Timmermansâ legacy.
The ENVI environment committee of the European Parliament is presenting about twenty compromises this week regarding the Commissionâs proposal to halve chemical use in agriculture and horticulture. These compromises are an attempt to align with their colleagues from the agriculture committee.
There is a possibility that the Christian Democratic EPP group will still submit their âownâ amendments. They had boycotted discussions on the SUR proposal in recent months.
A compromise is also being proposed to differentiate between âtruly harmfulâ pesticides and âharmlessâ types. Additionally, the targets will be relaxed, and the implementation will be spread over several years. Furthermore, Brussels must first ensure that green, natural pesticides are available.
The chair of the Environment Committee, Frenchman Pascal Canfin (Renew), said there is âa good chanceâ to finalize the text on pesticides during the European Parliament plenary session (20â23 November).
In the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Tuesday and Wednesday, efforts will also be made to reach agreement on the restriction of artificial fertilizers. About ten Eastern European countries have been attempting to block the proposal altogether from the start. In the Council, eleven EU countries are presenting compromise texts which, among other things, result in the mandatory target per country being removed.
Similar situations are arising regarding other Green Deal proposals. For example, next week the European Parliament will again have on its agenda the continued use of glyphosate, and ministers and EU politicians still need to agree on the (final) handling of the Nature Restoration Law, the EU Soil Directive (âclean soil accountingâ), plastic (vegetable) packaging, and the Waste Directive (reducing food waste, including in agriculture).