EU lawmakers on Wednesday, November 22, rejected a proposal to cut pesticide use by half by the end of the decade, dealing a blow to the bloc's push towards more environmentally friendly farming.
The full European Parliament shot down, in a 299-to-207 vote, a recommendation endorsed by its environment committee based on a text put forward by the European Commission in 2022. The proposal called for a 50 percent reduction in chemical pesticides by 2030 and a total ban in "sensitive areas" such as parks.
A French MEP from the Green group, Marie Toussaint, said on social media that "the right and the extreme right torpedoed adoption of the pesticide regulation." A German lawmaker with the center-right European People's Party (EPP), Peter Liese, said "today is a good day for farmers."
The parliament also narrowly rejected a motion asking for the proposal to be returned to the environment committee for amendment, meaning the text was essentially finished under the current legislature's mandate.
EU elections to choose a new European Parliament will take place in June next year. The EPP and other right-leaning groups are keen to have farmers onside for the polls, creating tensions over the commission's drive to put the bloc on the path to a carbon-neutral, more ecologically durable future.
Europe's powerful agricultural lobby has come out against legislative measures crimping production. A key biodiversity bill aimed at rewilding EU land and water habitats, which got initial agreement earlier this month, was watered down from the original text presented by the commission.