EU pesticide law further behind schedule as committee vote delayed

The vote on the EU’s proposed pesticides regulation in the European Parliament’s agriculture committee has been pushed back to October, further narrowing the window to reach an agreement ahead of next year’s EU elections.

The European Commission’s contentious proposal for sustainable use of pesticides regulation (SUR), which aims to slash pesticide use in half by 2030, is currently in the hands of the EU parliament and national ministers to hammer out their respective positions.

But on the Parliament’s side, this process is now falling behind schedule as a first committee vote on the regulation was pushed back.

While the agriculture committee (AGRI) was initially set to vote on the SUR proposal during its meeting on Wednesday (19 July), the vote did not end up on the meeting agenda.

Speaking to EURACTIV, a European Parliament official confirmed that the vote has been pushed back to October as talks are still ongoing between the political groups, and more work needs to be done on the numerous compromise amendments.

While the AGRI committee is not the leading committee on the new pesticide rules, it shared competence on parts of the file with the environment’s committee (ENVI), meaning that this delay could have ramifications for the Parliament’s further schedule on the file.

As another parliamentary source told EURACTIV, the delay in the agriculture committee will likely lead to the ENVI committee’s vote being pushed back.

Commission pushes out new data in bid to break stalemate on pesticide cuts plan

The European Commission’s impact assessment and update on the EU’s pesticide cuts plan sparked mixed reactions among stakeholders and lawmakers, sparking calls to stop stalling the reform and caveats about consequences for European agriculture.

Further delays expected

Ultimately, this would mean that the plenary vote needed to finally adopt the Parliament’s position and, thus, the start of inter-institutional talks with the Council of ministers would be delayed.

With EU elections coming up in June 2024, how quickly talks on the SUR can be concluded is key for the success of the regulation.

If the proposal is not adopted before the end of the current mandate, it is unclear whether a fresh Commission and Parliament – likely with a strengthened right wing – would continue to advance the legislation.

On the side of the Council, ministers were accused of stalling by Greens and campaigners when they requested an additional impact study on the proposal’s ramifications for food production last December.

After the Commission published the requested extra information last week – claiming pesticide cuts will not reduce food security – Green lawmakers stressed there is now no reason to further “block progress on the SUR.”

The schedule delays also came after the original presentation of the Commission’s proposal last year had been moved back from March to June.

[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Alice Taylor]

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