Reducing pesticide use across the EU

Member States ambition to reduce pesticide use is extremely low, problems include:

• A lack of overall objectives in the National Action Plans (NAPs) for pesticide reduction by the majority
  of Member States, and a failure to set quantitative objectives, targets, and clear timetables for pesticide
  use reductions as foreseen in the Sustainable Use Directive on Pesticides (SUDP).
• The majority of Member States argue for implementation of the SUDP by stating that they are enforcing other EU laws (MRLs to be respected in water; MRLs in food to be respected, in other words, they are recycling existing policy tools (financial schemes) without proposing new action, and some are even setting targets lower that the already fixed EU limits under environmental and public law.
• Success indicators are often soft quantifiable measures (number of training hours, number of guidelines developed, number of certificates issued) important for awareness, rather than more concrete measures like introduction of good agronomics, use of alternative non-chemical products etc.