European Commission proposal for a Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (SUR) - Number of Working Group meetings on SUR file / Sensitive Areas

Dear Minister, 

We are writing to you to share our views ahead of the next meeting of the Working Group on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products Regulation (SUR) proposal. 

1. The slow progress in the work on the SUR proposal is a matter of great concern for many stakeholders involved. The high relevance of this file, and the number of chapters to be analysed, require a large number of meetings. We would like to express to you our concern about the fact that only 4 meetings are planned under the Spanish presidency. Rather than increasing the intensity of discussions once the Member States are closer to reaching agreements, we would like to reiterate our request to already now increase the number of scheduled meetings on the SUR file, in view of providing the room to reach agreements on the different provisions of the proposal.