Eco Hvar

EU Parliament and Pesticides

Published in Notices

Who supported farmers, people and nature? If you care about human health and the environment, be informed and use your vote wisely!

EU Parliament and Pesticides

Check out the voting records of the European Parliamentary Parties in key areas of concern using this invaluable information tool.

Ahead of the EU elections, PAN Europe, Friends of the Earth Europe, and Corporate Europe Observatory present a set of voting score cards by political group on the pesticide reduction proposal. These scorecards show which share of political groups supported a strong law, and which ones contributed to the ultimate abandonment of it.

The high use of pesticides is a major problem in our current food system, causing harm to and failing farmers, consumers, and future generations.

Recently, the EU introduced a new plan on pesticides – the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR) – to cut pesticide use and risk by half in the EU and protect people and nature.

However, this proposal was severely watered down and ultimately failed to pass in the European Parliament. This means a failure to respond to the demand by over 1 million citizens for the EU to drastically reduce pesticide use and to support farmers in this transition.

Ahead of the EU elections, PAN Europe, Friends of the Earth Europe, and Corporate Europe Observatory today present a set of voting score cards by political groupon the pesticide reduction proposal. These scorecards show which share of political groups supported a strong law, and which ones contributed to the ultimate abandonment of it.

We chose six amendments on a variety of key aspects of the law, for which voting results per MEP were available. Score cards have also been produced for specific EU member states, showing voting results by national party: in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

These are the results:

Using pesticides as a last resort

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a set of tools designed to reduce the use of pesticides by placing preventative agronomic measures at the heart of pest control, with pesticides used only as a very last resort. Although IPM is already mandatory through the current Directive (the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive) it has not been properly implemented by Member States. The new pesticide regulation aimed to further define and concretize crop-specific IPM rules, ensuring IPM is effectively applied. The following graph shows which percentage of the political groups supported - or not - these mandatory rules.

 Protecting nature areas and public spaces

The proposed new law would ban the use of pesticides in sensitive areas such as nature protected areas, public areas, parks and playgrounds. This measure aimed to better protect citizens, especially vulnerable groups, and our ecosystems. The following graph illustrates which percentage of the political groups supported this essential protection.

 

Protecting water sources

Pesticide pollution in water poses severe risks to public health and ecosystems, and incurs significant costs for society. The graph below shows which percentage of political groups voted in favor of measures to better protect water sources from pesticide contamination.

Making supermarkets also responsible for pesticides reduction

The responsibility of reducing pesticide use should be shared across the food supply chain, such as the food industry and supermarkets - certainly not on farmers alone. The following graph illustrates which percentage of political groups supported holding wholesalers, food producers and supermarkets also accountable for reducing pesticide use.

 

Providing yearly independent advice for farmers

In the last decades, publicly funded advisory systems for farmers have largely been replaced by private services linked to pesticide corporations, raising concerns about conflicts of interest. Regular independent advice is crucial to help break free from the pesticide industry’s grip and support farmers in adopting alternative practices. The following graph shows which percentages of MEPs were in support of farmers receiving at least once a year independent advice, instead of every three years.

Raising the ambition for the reduction of the most harmful pesticides

The graph below shows which MEPs voted against an amendment to set a higher reduction target for the most harmful pesticides, to 65% by 2030 instead of 50%. For these highly toxic pesticides, a 50% reduction is far from ambitious enough to protect citizens, farmers and nature, and a full phase out is necessary.

Conclusion

On all topics, the large majority or all of the christian-democratic EPP group, the conservative (to far-right) ECR and the far-right ID group voted consistently against the interests of people. These groups do not even support farmers getting regular independent advice on pesticides, or a higher reduction of the most harmful ones! Undermining urgently needed measures to reduce pesticide use harms the well-being of citizens, the health of our ecosystems and a long term perspective for farmers. As citizens across Europe head to the EU elections polls for, voters should be aware of how political groups (mis)represented their interests when given the opportunity.

Voters from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Spain also have the possibility to check out how MEPs from their national parties voted.

Voters from all EU countries can also check how individual MEPs voted in an overview table.

AND DON'T FORGET THE BEES!

You can also check the voting records of MEPs in relation to the vital issue of bee protection: to choose the country click here, then you can check on that country's individual MEPs..

The record has been compiled by Bee Life Europe with these intentions: "As European citizens prepare to exercise their democratic rights at the polls (6-9 June 2024), it is crucial to recognise the significant role this election plays in shaping the future of environmental protection and the survival of bees. Our investigation into the voting patterns of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on bee-related matters has led to the creation of a practical tool to empower citizens to cast a bee-friendly vote, knowing that their choice can make a real difference.

This website analyses the voting records of MEPs on policies relevant to bees, pollinators, and beekeeping based on their behaviour over the last five years of the legislature. It shows how coherent they have been in protecting bees, the planet, and EU farming. In this 2024 elections, vote informed.

The newly developed tool is designed to simplify your understanding of MEPs' stance on bee issues. Based on their voting records, it assigns a score from 0 to 100 (0 being the most detrimental to bees and 100 the most beneficial). You can easily search for individual MEPs, explore voting trends by country, and even track the voting patterns of political groups at the European Parliament.

 
 
 
More in this category: « DONKEY APPEAL - APEL ZA MAGARCE! ECO HVAR AND THE LAW »
back to top
You are here: Home notices EU Parliament and Pesticides

Eco Environment News feeds

  • More than 40 arrests made after UK activists target ‘bee-killing’ pesticides

    Environmental activists lock themselves to pesticide barrels in protest outside Syngenta headquarters

    More than 40 people, including Greenpeace UK’s programme director, Amy Cameron, have been arrested after a protest outside pesticide company Syngenta’s Yorkshire headquarters.

    A number of the activists locked themselves on to 15 blue pesticide barrels outside the headquarters, blocking the gates and leading to the temporary closure of the local A62. Activists had transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. The action took place on World Bee day.

    Continue reading...

  • Plastic food and drink packaging ‘world’s most common coastal litter’

    Global study finds wrappers, bottles and lids on shorelines of 93% of countries analysed as UN talks to tackle issue in turmoil

    Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world’s shorelines, a study has found.

    Researchers looked at data from more than 5,300 surveys of coastal litter to produce the first global analysis of its kind. They found the data in 355 existing studies on the subject.

    Continue reading...

  • UK ‘built for climate that no longer exists’ and needs urgent changes to survive global heating, report warns

    Landmark report calls for widespread air conditioning and says UK temperatures forecast to exceed 40C by 2050

    British homes will need air conditioning to survive predicted levels of global heating, the government’s climate advisers have warned in a report, as measures such as drawing curtains, opening windows and growing trees for shade are not likely to be enough.

    Air conditioning should be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which published a major report on adapting to the impacts of global heating on Wednesday.

    Continue reading...

  • The English community that brought its river back from the brink: ‘If we can get it right here, we can do it everywhere’

    For 150 years, the Mease had been altered by human hands, which destroyed habitats. But in 2013, a restoration project began – and now its wetlands are abuzz with wildlife

    ‘A noisy river is a healthy river,” says Ruth Needham of the Trent Rivers Trust (TRT). The Mease in the Midlands must be in fine fettle, then, as it gurgles merrily along. Sunlight glints off riffles in the water and shoals of fry dart past. Needham whips out her phone to video the tiny fish: “My colleagues will be jumping for joy to see them!”

    Needham has good reason to be buoyant. Last month, the Mease won the UK River prize 2026 – which was established by the River Restoration Centre in 2014 to acknowledge innovative projects –in recognition of the trust’s 13-year restoration campaign. “The prize has been a massive boost,” says Needham. “If we can get the Mease into better condition, we can improve other rivers, too.”

    ‘We wanted to get people to work together’ … Ruth Needham of the Trent Rivers Trust

    Continue reading...

  • Blinded and broken, Sunny the owl becomes another casualty of Russia’s war

    Ukrainians lament appalling toll of fighting on their country’s bird population

    Russia sent kamikaze drones to attack the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in February. They hit buildings and killed several people. One unreported victim of the bombardment was a male long-eared owl, blinded in one eye and found with a badly broken wing. A passerby scooped up the stunned bird, put him in a box and took him to the city of Dnipro.

    The owl – nicknamed Sunny – is now recovering in a cosy room belonging to Veronica Konkova. No longer able to fly or hunt, Sunny instead hops around.

    Continue reading...

  • Rachel Reeves to protect ‘critical’ clean energy projects from legal challenges

    Chancellor’s planning shake-up in England and Wales would ‘reduce exposure from judicial review on all but human rights grounds’

    Rachel Reeves is poised to fast-track clean energy projects in England and Wales with planning reforms to curb the use of judicial reviews against new infrastructure, the ​Treasury has said.

    Under the chancellor’s proposals, parliament will be able to designate and approve the most important clean energy projects as of “critical national importance”, as part of a wider package seeking to boost the UK’s energy security and soften the economic fallout from the Iran war.

    Continue reading...

  • Eva v Goliath: the 20-year-old climate activist taking on Trump and the fossil fuel industry

    Young Americans are suing the president for violating rights with executive orders that fuel the climate crisis

    Eva Lighthiser was at a dorm party on her Colorado college campus last month when she had to call it an early night.

    “I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got to go to bed, I’m flying out to Portland tomorrow,’ and then of course follow-up questions get raised,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Well, it’s a lot to explain.’”

    Continue reading...

  • Plantwatch: how goat’s rue inspired super drug for everything from diabetes to obesity

    Galegine compound in plant formed blueprint for metformin drug, but without the toxic side-effects

    Goat’s rue or French lilac, Galega officinalis, is a wild plant and often grown in gardens for its clusters of attractive lilac or white flowers. For a long time the plant was also used to treat diabetes. Its key ingredient was later identified as galegine, which lowers blood glucose levels but has toxic side-effects.

    Eventually galegine led to the development of the synthetic drug metformin, now the classic treatment for treating diabetes by controlling blood sugar. Metformin has none of the toxic side effects of galegine and is now one of the most prescribed drugs in the world. But for many years metformin was vilified and banned in many countries because of its association with galegine.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Should we leave them to die?’ The battle over how to save orangutans from the curse of palm oil

    As new settlers clear their forest habitat, the apes are coming into conflict with humans. But simply moving them to another part of the forest may not be the answer

    The banana skins were an ominous sign. As was the branch that had been broken off to get to the fruit. Had Edi Ramliwalked into the forest, he might have seen scattered balls of bark that had been ripped off trees, chewed like gum, then spat out. It takes a powerful jaw to do that. Closer to Edi’s home, there was an intricate construction of bent and broken branches high in a tree. The nest.

    It was October, the fruiting season. The pile of half-eaten bananas was less than a minute’s walk from where Edi and his family slept. He felt nervous. He got on with his day. He picked sweetcorn and sold it at the market. He bought a carton of chocolate milk and biscuits for his grandson. He and his wife, Siti Munawaroh, ran the farm with their three adult children. They prepped the land, sowed seeds, tended crops. Survival depended on what they could grow.

    Continue reading...

  • High risk yet home to thousands: the makeshift towns at the mercy of landslides and floods in Peru

    Like many informal settlements, communities that have sprung up on the edges of Ayacucho in the Andes are on the frontline of extreme weather events

    In December 2009, a late‑afternoon storm unleashed torrential rain over Ayacucho, in Peru, hitting poor hillside neighbourhoods hard. The deluge overwhelmed drainage systems, turning streams into lethal flows of mud, stones and debris that flooded houses and streets and trapped drivers at a busy junction.

    Ten people died, 18 were injured, and 530 houses were destroyed or damaged, according to a government inquest. “It was a disaster,” recalls Edgar Castro, a leader in Ayacucho’s largest informal neighbourhood, Mollepata.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.