In a reaction report released today, PAN Europe welcomes the European Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on Member State National Action Plans and on progress in the implementation of Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides (SUD).
PAN Europe’s reaction report presents proposals for serious implementation of the Directive on the sustainable use of pesticides, particularly calling on the Member States to publish their revised National Action Plans (NAPs), as foreseen in the SUD in 2017-early 2018, identifying overall objectives, quantitative reduction targets, timetables and measures on pesticide dependency reductions, giving special attention to improving water quality, protecting biodiversity, and the uptake of real Integrated Pest Management in the agricultural sector.
“This report was foreseen in the SUD to be published in 2014, it is therefore now time to take serious action to recover the three-year delay. The good news about the three years’ delay is that it falls within the period where Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform discussions started. The SUD should be fully integrated into the post 2020 CAP reform, including aspects to ensure serious uptake of Integrated Pest Management making sure that transition towards low-impact farming becomes a cornerstone of the future CAP 2020”, according to Henriette Christensen, PAN Europe Senior Policy Adviser.
“It is time for the EU and MS to recover the time lost in the SUD implementation. They owe this not only to the SUD but also to the 1,3 million people who signed the European Citizens’ Initiative to ban glyphosate, set clear EU mandatory targets for pesticide use reduction and adoption of alternative methods in pest management”, says PAN Europe environmental toxicologist Angeliki Lysimachou.
Contact: Henriette Christensen, Senior Policy Advisor, PAN Europe, Henriette [at] pan-europe.info, Tel: +32 2 318 62 55
