Scrapping pesticides law is "overdue, reasonable and relieving"

Alexander Bernhuber MEP and Franc Bogovič MEP welcome the "overdue, reasonable and relieving" announcement by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to withdraw the legislative proposal on pesticide reduction in its current form.

"This is a first good sign that the Commission will work with farmers to tackle climate change rather than against them. We have always said that it would be irresponsible to jeopardise European food production in the face of current crises through unrealistic requirements and bureaucracy. We are ready at any time to work together with the Commission for effective climate protection and a secure food supply," says Alexander Bernhuber MEP, the EPP Group's chief negotiator on pesticides.

"The proposed law was simply not fit for purpose and did not take into account the past efforts of European farmers. For farmers to keep feeding Europeans, they need reasonable regulation and encouragement, as well as access to modern technologies, such as new breeding techniques or precision farming. Farming is about the future, not the past," adds Franc Bogovič MEP, the EPP Group's Spokesman on pesticides in the Agriculture Committee.