SUPPORT BANS AGAINST TOXIC PESTICIDES IN THE EU

Over 1 million EU citizens signed The European Citizens Initiative (ECI) Save Bees and Farmers petition demanding that the EU phase-out synthetic pesticides by 2035, restore biodiversity, and support farmers in the transition.  With this momentous success, the organizers were invited by the Commission to speak in Parliament on January 24th 2023. The 4 hour hearing in Brussels included comments from scientists and farmers alike. The negotiations on the Commission’s proposed pesticide reductions are still continuing and a final vote will take place later this year.  

The European Commission made a reckless decision: it reapproved glyphosate—a widely used pesticide found to be harmful to health, biodiversity, soil, and water—for another 10 years. Under EU law, this toxic pesticide should have been banned; health and the environment should come first and in case of doubt, the precautionary principle has to be applied. But instead, the Commission and certain Member States seem to have put corporate profits ahead of public safety and the environment. This is a disaster–but the Pesticide Action Network is fighting back!