Pesticides: protecting consumers is our highest priority

EPP Group protects consumers, insists on science-based approach towards pesticides authorisation.

"Even though the EU authorisation process is already the safest in the world, we can still further improve it", said the EPP Group's Norbert Lins MEP, ahead of the vote on the findings and recommendations of the Parliament’s Special Committee on the Authorisation Procedure for Pesticides. Lins is Parliament's co-rapporteur who drafted the recommendations jointly with Green MEP Bart Staes.

The final report looks particularly at two issues, questioning how to ensure that the food that comes on to the tables in Europe is safe and how to ensure that European farmers can produce these foods in the long-term. "Protecting the user and the consumer was our highest priority in the preparation of this report", commented Lins.

For the EPP Group, it is also crucial to establish that the process remains independent and transparent. The Group insists that it is necessary to safeguard the value and authority of research results so that decisions are not taken based on the politics of the day.

"In the future, the Commission, and not industry, should decide which Member State is responsible for testing an active substance. Studies should be accessed publicly, without endangering the competitiveness of industry. This will strengthen the independence of the process", said Lins.

"In the process, we should not forget about our farmers. They need our full support in the face of global competition. If we do not invest in research, innovation will come from our competitors", commented Angelique Delahaye MEP, EPP Group Spokeswoman in the Special Committee.

Delahaye also recalled that alternatives need to be found for the placement of new and better-equipped products on the market. "Both professionals and citizens depend on stable, legal and safe rules", she concluded.