January 2022 onwards, France will have a decisive capacity to take concrete actions to address EU-wide the use of pesticides and other chemical pollutants. NGOs, therefore, call on France to make impactful use of this 6-month leadership.
PAN Europe and Générations Futures, supported by 16 NGOs, have published two position papers today listing achievable actions that can be undertaken during the PFUE on pesticides and other chemical pollutants. These recommendations have been sent to both the French government and the French Representation for the EU in Brussels. The topics they address echo President Emmanuel Macron's statements at the IUCN Congress in September 2021: the EU constitutes the adequate level of action to initiate an accelerated phase out of pesticides.
What do we expect from the PFUE? A clear commitment to environmental health. This includes the promotion of pesticide-free agriculture, the reduction of citizens’ exposure to these toxic substances and an ambitious revision of the rest of the EU chemical framework.
Our NGOs are proposing specific actions that can be either implemented or at least initiated in the 6 months of this presidency: opposition to the renewal of glyphosate and new GMOs, promotion of environmental labelling (the PlanetScore), access to all agricultural statistics, an end to double standards between the EU and the rest of the world, etc.
EU citizens simultaneously can Shake Their Politicians to endorse and disseminate these recommendations and/or other issues of concern.
Salomé Roynel, Campaigner at PAN Europe said: "In the context of the EU 'Farm to Fork' Strategy, President Macron’s announcements were perceived as the signal of a French intention to move forward the EU ambition on pesticide phase out. This presidency of the Council will give France a unique leadership to convince its European partners and turn its declarations into actions."
François Veillerette, spokesperson for Générations Futures added: "EU citizens have strong expectations that were clearly expressed in the context of the Save Bees and Farmers’s ECI. We therefore expect France, which keeps presenting itself as a leader on environmental matters, to take ambitious measures for Europe during this Presidency! We will assess at the mid-term whether France has been able to seize these opportunities.
You can find the links to our position paper here and here.
Contact:
- PAN Europe, Salomé Roynel, Campaigner,salome [at] pan-europe.info , +33 7 86 39 72 74
- Générations Futures, François Veillerette, françois [at] generations-futures.fr, +33 6 81 64 65 58
- Nadine Lauverjat, General Delegate, nadine [at] generations-futures.fr, +33 6 87 56 27 54
