MEPs vote down agri-pesticides proposal
The European Parliament has rejected a plan to cut back reliance on pesticides in agriculture, in another setback in efforts to protect the environment.
With 299 votes against the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products Regulation, or SUR, 207 in favour, and 121 abstentions, MEPs rejected a package of draft legislation that had been negotiated intensely for months.
“I could not have imagined that the entire draft legislation would have ended up trampled into the ground like this," said Greens party rapporteur Sarah Wiener.
Ms Wiener said the right had worked with the extreme right to help agro-industry lobbyists ditch the legislation.
The Greens-EFA group said the text had been so watered down in crucial areas that, in the end, it was not good enough for anyone to support it.
“Beyond adopting meaningless reduction targets, they also removed the protection for kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and old people homes ... and deleted binding rules for integrated pest management, which would have been an important tool to implement sustainable practices,” it said.
A proposal to refer SUR back to the parliament’s environment committee was also rejected. The European People’s Party, which includes Fine Gael, said: “The European Parliament rejected the extremist approach of the Greens and Socialists to impose more bans and excessive regulations, that would reduce food production in Europe.”
- Reuters
