Annual network members’ conference 2003

21-22 November 2003, Copenhagen, Denmark

Pesticides and cancer Prof. Dominique Belpomme, President of the French Association for Research on Treatments Against Cancer (ARTAC)
Working with Danish farmers for pesticide use reduction Poul Henning Peterson, Danish Agricultural Advisory Service

PAN Europe’s 2003 network conference aimed to identify opportunities for political agenda influence and have as its theme How to implement Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe (PURE). Our key objectives are capacity-building and network strengthening for political influence:

Learn how to lobby/campaign effectively at EU and national levels
Advance our internal discussions and positions
Get more people involved in lobbying, campaigning
Learn from experiences in different Member States
Produce action plans for campaigning for PURE in 2004

The conference was attended by 47 people from 18 European countries, with 12 participants from Central & Eastern countries. For PAN Europe partner organisations and PURE signatory organisations, an electronic copy of the proceedings can be obtained from the PAN Europe Coordinator. Presentations by the two guest speakers Prof. Dominique Belpomme, oncologist, and Mr Poul Henning Petersen of the Danish Agricultural Advisory Service are available to download.

Conference Programme

Time	Session	Speaker/Facilitator
Fri.21st
9.15	Introductory exercise to get to know people	Stephanie Williamson, PAN-E Coordinator
9.25	Introduction on PAN-E and PURE successes in last 2 years	Stephanie Williamson, PAN-E Coordinator
9.35	Keynote speech on health concerns	Prof. Dominique Belpomme, oncologist, Univ. Paris
9.50	Feedback from our policy conference Reducing Pesticide Dependency in Europe and next steps for the PURE campaign	Gretta Goldenman, PAN Europe
10.05	How to lobby effectively at EU level- EP, EC, Council and MS officials (tips for activists, insider vs outsider tactics; specific actives; lobby calendar for 2004) Discussion	Stefan Scheuer, European Environmental Bureau + Catherine Wattiez, PURE Coordinator
10.40	Coffee break
11.00	Experiences of NGO campaigning at member state level:
	a. France- raising the issue	a. Francois Veillerette, Mouvement pour les Droits et le Respectdes Générations Futures (MRDGF)
	b. Germany- negotiating with government	b. Carina Weber, PAN Germany
	c. UK- stakeholder discussion in developing a national pesticide strategy	c. David Buffin, PAN UK
	d. Austria- putting pressure on supermarkets	d. Helmut Burtscher, Global 2000 (FoE)
	e. Netherlands- gaining agreement between government, farmers and environment NGOs	e. Hans Muilerman, Stichting Natuur Milieu (SNM)
14.30 –18.00	1) Biodiversity conservation and environmental impacts2) Pesticide authorisation issues (incl. substitution principle, Comparative Risk Assessment, and particular active ingredients of concern)3) Agriculture, CAP reform, Good Agricultural Practice and Integrated Pest/Crop Management4) Health, food residues and drinking water concerns	Introduction to break-out groups and group discussions and strategy and action planning
20.00	Informal talk and discussion on working with farmers for pesticide use reduction	Poul Henning Peterson, Danish Agricultural Advisory Service
Sat.22nd
09.15	Start and introduction
09.30-10.15	PAN Europe structure and institutional issues, introduction to the Board and PURE WG Establishing network organisations	Carina Weber, PAN-E Chair and David Buffin, PAN-E Board Member
11.15	Report back from working groups in plenary and discussion	Working group rapporteurs
12.15	Conclusions and next steps	Christopher Stopes
12.25	Conference closing and roundtable evaluation	Gretta Goldenman, PAN Europe
14.00	Optional session on Obsolete Pesticides, Disposal, PIC, POPs and IFCS	PAN Europe Board Meeting (Board members only)
18.00	Dinner and trip to Tivoli Gardens

The four working groups were:

(Group1) Biodiversity conservation and environmental impacts
(Group 2) Pesticide authorisation issues (including substitution principle and Comparative Risk Assessment, and particular active ingredients of concern)
(Group 3) Agriculture, CAP reform, Good Agricultural Practice and Integrated Pest/Crop Management
(Group 4) Health, food residues and drinking water concerns

The objectives of the discussions in these groups were:

to provide a brief update on context, political agenda and key events/issues on the topic
share information on members’ activities and experiences
discuss how to influence/convince/involve the following stakeholders in supporting PURE: European Parliament, the Commission and Member States officials; supermarkets and other private sector companies; farmers, farm workers, crop advisors; consumers and the public.