The surprise is total. And even his fiercest opponents on the right of the political spectrum did not expect it. The European Parliament rejected, on Wednesday November 22, one of the central elements of the “Green Deal” and its agricultural counterpart, “from farm to fork”, the new regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides. Initially proposed in June 2022 by the European Commission, this regulation notably provided for a 50% reduction in the use of phytosanitary products by 2030.
“It’s an astonishing twist of theaterrecognized François Xavier Bellamy, of the European People’s Party (EPP), after the vote. And what’s more, it was the promoters of a tightening of these regulations who ultimately voted against this text. Our delegation, which is in favor of more protective regulations, while remaining pragmatic and realistic, voted for…”
“I would never have imagined such a massacre of this text, amendment after amendment. This is why, with death in our souls, we voted against”explained, stunned after a voting session of more than three hours, Sarah Wiener, the Austrian rapporteur (The Greens) of this text. “They are killing the whole Green Deal. Lobbyists rather than health and the environment. Feeling of disgust »reacted to the outcome of the vote Manon Aubry, from La France insoumise (La Gauche), on the social network X.
Group discipline not respected
To understand this snub, we have to rewind. Since the presentation of this project by the Commission, discussions on the preparation of the vote had been punctuated by numerous debates on the realism of such an objective, the means put in place to achieve it and the variation of the reduction targets. use of phytosanitary products in each country of the European Union. And this in an atmosphere of toughness vis-à-vis ecology, considered increasingly “punitive” by part of European public opinion.
Before the vote, Sarah Wiener, the environmental rapporteur of the text, remained confident in the idea of installing a first constraint at European level, while only three countries, including France, have so far implemented policies to reduce the use of phytosanitary products. But group discipline was not respected, and the traditional majority, which ranges from the Renew group to the far left, completely exploded a few months before the European elections.
“The six key amendments aimed at weakening the text and its application, all tabled by the right, were all supported well beyond the right, to our great surprise,” we admit within the EPP. Socialist elected officials, particularly from the south and east of Europe, where traditional agriculture remains very important, but also liberal elected officials from northern Europe from the Renew group, worried about an agricultural weakening of the continent, have in fact joined the right and the extreme right to reduce the scope of the regulations: postponing the entry into force of the regulations until 2035, modifying the reference years to implement reduction objectives, avoiding the protection of sensitive areas…
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