Today, Joël Labbé, Senator of Morbihan and VicePresident of the Commission of Economic Affairs in France, has launched an EU proposal for banning pesticides use outside agriculture. Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe warmly welcomes this initiative, as pesticides are not only used in the agricultural sector, but also in private gardens, public parks, playgrounds, sidewalks, graveyards, sport fields, railways, to name a few.
Banning pesticides in public areas is not a new story especially not in countries like Sweden, Denmark Germany and the Netherlands, where this debate started already in the 70s (1) (2). Most recently, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg have all decided to ban the use of pesticides in public areas in the coming years, and thousands of municipalities across Europe are currently on the move towards getting pesticide free.
The move towards pesticide free towns is encouraged by the EU Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUDP). To encourage uptake, PAN Europe has a dedicated a campaign website guiding and showcasing towns on becoming pesticide-free in several languages.
Other kinds of actions aiming at limiting the use of pesticide among private persons are also starting to appear across Europe. Some communities in Italy and now also in France are forcing farmers to respect 50-meter buffer strips of no spray towards citizens; the region of Brussels recently banned certain categories of pesticides to protect its citizens, while some municipalities in Denmark have introduce pesticide bans in specific areas to protect drinking water.
The EU Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUDP) was adopted in 2009 and apply as from 2011 meant to reduce dependency on pesticides. In regard to its implementation and its effects, the 2015 sale statistics have just been launched and show clearly that we are back to scratch and nothing has changed in the total pesticide sale since SUDP’s introduction.
PAN Europe therefore calls on the European Commission to take on board the idea of Mr Labbé proposing: an upgrade of the EU’s laws on pesticides introducing an EU wide ban on pesticide use for areas outside agriculture. Notes:
(1) https://www.wur.nl/upload_mm/6/f/f/7ce47184-4294-4fcd-af02- 9c320603acaf_weedresearch48.pdf
(2) Few Member States are collecting statistics on the proportion of pesticide used in public areas and in garden to monitor the change, one of them is Denmark whose pesticide use in public areas in 2013 was 2,3 ton of active substances corresponding to 0,1 % of the annual Danish sale of pesticides, while the sale of pesticides for use in private gardens was in 2014 28,5 tons of active substances (http://mst.dk/virksomhedmyndighed/bekaempelsesmidler/sproejtemidler/statistik/statregionerkommuner/).
Contacts: Henriette Christensen, Senior Policy Officer PAN Europe, henriette@paneurope.info, Tel: +32 2 318 62 55
Note to editor: PAN Europe is a network of NGOs working to minimise negative effects and replace the use of hazardous chemicals with ecologically sound alternatives. We work to eliminate dependency on chemical pesticides and to support safe sustainable pest control methods. Our network brings together 34 consumer, public health, and environmental organisations, and women's groups from across Europe.