Von der Leyen’s decision comes amid growing resistance to Brussels' green policies and widespread protests by farmers who, among other things, say the burdens imposed on them by European environmental regulations are excessive.
The withdrawal of the pesticide plan is a direct consequence of these farmers' protests and also marks a new setback for environmental and climate plans announced in recent years. Over the past two years, a significant agricultural lobby has mobilized against many of these green initiatives.
Von der Leyen made it clear that while she is now announcing the withdrawal, the Commissioners still have to approve it next week. She also emphasized that the necessary agricultural transition remains on the political agenda, and that after the European elections in June, the new European Parliament and the new European Commission will still need to find a response to it.
She said that the pesticide proposal had become a symbol of polarization, and that over the coming months she wants to focus heavily on the Strategic Dialogue she initiated. When creating a new proposal, the Commission must choose "more dialogue and a different approach" with stakeholders, she believes.
The new EU rules to halve crop protection use were already doomed when the European Parliament voted them down last autumn. Von der Leyen’s own EVP-Christian Democrats, with support from nationalist and right-wing groups, weakened the proposal to such an extent that it became unacceptable to green and left-wing MEPs.
Many EU countries also had reservations but had so far continued to seek an acceptable compromise. The current EU Presidency, Belgium, wanted to present a further watered-down compromise proposal before the elections. Dutch Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema had informed the House of Representatives at the end of January that he would not support further dilution of the proposal, as he believes the EU must do something to reduce chemical use in agriculture.
The resistance from the agricultural lobby in the EU previously led to a nature restoration law being watered down to the point where only an administrative framework remained. Additionally, the current Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra will have to remove agriculture-unfriendly arguments from a new Climate Plan, as was announced Tuesday in Strasbourg.
In Hoekstra’s tightened Climate Plans, it will no longer be permitted to state that agriculture and food production are major causes of air pollution, nor will there be calls to reduce meat consumption.