Pesticides law could spur EU organic farming sector

Organic farming in the EU could get a boost next week (12 July) with the publication of a proposal to reduce pesticide use in Europe.

The draft directive on the sustainable use of pesticides was originally scheduled for last year but the Commission's environment department has had to overcome opposition from farmers and the Commission's agriculture department.

The proposal sets out to "encourage the use of low-input or pesticide-free crop farming".

Measures proposed include obliging governments to come up with plans to reduce pesticide risks, and restricting the use of pesticides in sensitive areas such as schools or nature parks.

The directive will also ban aerial pesticide spraying, unless there is no alternative, and sets EU-wide standards for spraying equipment sales and inspections.

It will also advise member states to consider the possibility of a pesticides tax to help farmers shift to expensive organic or low-pesticide farming methods.

Sweden and Denmark currently help farmers shift to low-pesticide farming methods with money raised through a tax on all pesticides.

But Sofia Parente of the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) said her group did not believe the directive would change much.

In particular, PAN says too many decisions remain in the hands of member states.

"If there is a problem with pesticides in Europe we should have a different approach to their use, preventing their use or offering alternatives.

"Only an EU- wide reduction target would make a difference," according to Parente.

The choice of sensitive areas is also up to member states.

"There is scope for member states to do a lot but they can pretty much decide what they want to do," said Parente.

And while welcoming the ban on aerial spraying, she said it was not clear who would decide when exemptions would be allowed.

A Commission spokeswoman said the directive would close gaps in EU pesticide rules.

EU laws already exist to regulate putting pesticides on the market and control the residual amounts of pesticides allowed in food, but the use of pesticides is generally regulated by governments.

The directive aims to change this, although some decisions still have to be taken at a national level, she explained. "Some flexibility is of course needed, but what we can do we will do."

The directive will be published on the same day as a review of EU pesticide approval rules, by the Commission's department of health and consumer affairs.

The review will propose different authorisation rules for the different geographical and climactic conditions in three EU zones: northern, central, and southern Europe.

Organic farming in the EU could get a boost next week (12 July) with the publication of a proposal to reduce pesticide use in Europe.