The European Citizens' Initiative "Save Bees and Farmers" has gathered the required one million signatures and is now recognized by Brussels. The EU Commission considers 1.054 million submitted signatures across the 27 EU countries as valid.
Approval was particularly high in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In contrast, the minimum thresholds were not reached in Croatia, Lithuania, and Greece.
The citizens' initiative called for at least an 80 percent reduction in the use of chemical-synthetic pesticides within eight years. From 2035 onwards, there should be a ban on the use of chemical agents held responsible for damaging biodiversity and the extinction of bee species.
According to the initiators, farmers and scientists have already demonstrated that food production is also possible without chemical agents. Society is paying a high price for the use of chemicals, such as groundwater pollution, they say.
After recognition, the European Commission now has three months to take a position on the demands of the citizens' initiative. In recent months, EU commissioners have already launched proposals to halve the use of chemicals in agriculture over time.
Many agricultural organizations especially oppose this. They say that without crop protection agents, harvests will be significantly smaller, causing food prices to rise.
Signatories of the EU-wide petition believe subsidies should be provided for farmers who want to switch to organic farming, without the risk of chemical residues in food.