Event: Towards a Just Transition – IPM, Biocontrol & the Path Beyond Pesticides

On March 4, Friends of the Earth Europe, together with PAN Europe and the European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions, brought experts, farmers, policymakers, and stakeholders at the European Parliament to discuss the urgent need to reduce pesticide use in Europe. The event, which marked the sad one-year anniversary of the withdrawal of the EU Pesticide Law (Sustainable Use Regulation), was organised in collaboration with Members of the European Parliament Manuela Ripa (EPP) and Dario Nardella (S&D).

The debate, moderated by Annelies Schorpion, food, agriculture and biodiversity coordinator at Friends of the Earth Europe, focused on showcasing successful initiatives and solutions for the reduction of pesticide use in Europe. It also explored actionable steps and policy recommendations for a just transition to finally drive the transition towards more sustainable food systems that are not dependent on the use of synthetic pesticides.

Setting the scene

Following opening statements from MEPs Nardella and Ripa, Violette Geissen, professor at the Wageningen University, shared findings from the SPRINT project, the largest sampling study conducted in Europe to evaluate pesticide exposure and its effects on human health and the environment. The study showed significant toxicity effects of pesticide mixtures even at exposure levels considered non-toxic according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) risk assessments. These findings offer critical scientific evidence highlighting the urgent need to improve current risk assessment procedures, particularly by accounting for cumulative exposure to multiple chemicals, and to substantially reduce pesticide use and risks across Europe.

Highlighting solutions for a just transition out of pesticides

• Romain Nandillon, researcher at l’Institut Agro Dijon, presented his work assessing the economic performativity of over 1000 commercial farms in France committed to reduce their use of pesticides. His research showed no conflict between reducing pesticide use and economic performance in most farms, thus demonstrating the economic feasibility of reducing pesticide use. Diversification, reduced fertilization, and techniques like mechanical weeding helped reduce pesticide use on a large scale.
• Géraud Dumont de Chassart then shared his experience as a Belgian farmer, and the strategies he used to reduce his use of pesticides. These included crop diversification, increasing nature on his farm (hedges, grass strips and flower strips) to enhance the abundance of insects that are providing vital services to agriculture. Thanks to the improved quality of his soil, he managed to increase the resilience of his farm, including in difficult times due to the consequences of the climate crisis.
• Gil Luypaert, Regulatory Affairs Project Manager at De Ceuster Meststoffen nv (DCM) and chair of IBMA Belgium, emphasized the potential of biocontrol, when used as part of integrated pest management. Alongside sound agronomic practices, they enable a more sustainable agriculture. He also stressed the importance of a new regulatory framework to ensure the successful adoption of biocontrol in the EU.  

What’s next for policy actions

• Maria Pilar Aguar Fernández, the Director for Health and Food Audits and Analysis in DG SANTE and Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, the Director for Strategy and Policy Analysis at DG AGRI outlined the upcoming plans of the EU Commission to progress on pesticide reduction in the EU, including on the better implementation of the current pesticide directive (the Sustainable Use Directive – SUD), and the plan to put forward a proposal that accelerates the access for biopesticides to the EU market.
• Martin Dermine, director of PAN Europe, highlighted the need to move ahead with the implementation of the SUD. He pointed out that the directive contains some crucial provisions to limit or ban the use of pesticides in sensitive areas, and made Integrated Pest Management (IPM) mandatory across the EU, but that the implementation of this directive in the different member states has been severely lacking.
• Ivan Ivanov, political secretary at EFFAT, concluded on the need for a Just Transition to ensure that social considerations are taken on board alongside economic and environmental ones. In the context of pesticides, it means for example implementing better protection of farmers’ and farm workers’ health while duly considering the realities on the ground (migrant workforce, compliance issues, poor enforcement), and ensuring a better recognition of occupational diseases.

Conclusion

It’s clear: solutions to significantly reduce pesticide use exist, but they need to decisive action from EU policymakers to be more widely and easily adopted. Together with over 90 organisations, we developed a Roadmap for a Pesticide Phase-Out which outlines key demands to make pesticide reduction a reality. We ask in particular for all EU countries to finally start implementing existing legislation to ensure that pesticides are used only as a very last resort, and for the EU Commission to hold Member States accountable.

You can watch the full recording here. The speeches of Ms. Ripa and Mr. Nardella, which are not (fully) included in the video due to technical issues can be found in the links above.