Appeal of scientists and NGOs to von der Leyen: pesticide management remains with Health Department

Brussels – The Pan Europe network (Pesticide Action Network), in a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and to the Secretary General of the European Commission, Ilze Juhansone, requested that pesticide management be retained in the EU executive’s Directorate-General for Health (DG SANTE) or transferred to the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) along with additional resources. The network brings together more than 50 consumer, public health, and environmental organizations, trade unions, women’s groups, and farmers’ associations from across Europe,  representing the European branch of the international Pesticide Action Network, active in 60 countries aiming to minimize the adverse effects of hazardous pesticides and to replace their use with environmentally sound and socially just alternatives.

In the letter signed by over 80 NGOs and famous scientists, the European Network expressed its concerns about reports according to which, in the restructuring of the new European Commission, DG SANTE may cede its competencies on pesticide approval, animal welfare, plant and animal health, plant varieties, and new genomic techniques to the Commission’s Agriculture Department (DG AGRI). “Information from the press indicates that the European Commission is considering moving the competency over pesticide files and responsibilities from DG SANTE to another DG. We, the undersigned organizations working to protect citizens and biodiversity from the harmful effects of pesticides, would like to express our serious concern regarding these media reports,” the network wrote.

“In the framework of the Union’s One Health approach (the integrated and unified approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems, ed) removing the competence on pesticides from DG SANTE would contradict the evolution of science, showing that human, animal, plant, and environmental health are intrinsically linked and interdependent,” the signatories said in the letter. They point out that “New scientific knowledge is published daily on the negative impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment,” and that ” EU legislation, as well as the case law from the Court of Justice of the EU, foresee that the management of pesticides and their safety assessment is a ‘health and environment issue’.”

Furthermore, the letter specifies that the Pesticides Regulation aims to ensure a high level of protection of human and animal health and the environment against pesticides and that the text is based on the precautionary principle to ensure this safety. Added to this is the concern of European citizens: “EU citizens are regularly expressing their concern about the impact of pesticides on their health and the environment. Two successful European Citizens Initiatives (ECIs) ask for a phasing out of synthetic pesticides. The Conference for the Future of Europe also concluded that citizens demand a significant reduction in pesticide use.”

“At a decisive moment for the future of the EU, where citizens express their concerns for their future and that of their children, it is of major importance that the European Commission’s actions are in line with science, with the law, as well as with citizens’ demands. Taking decisions that go against these principles would harm the reputation of the European Commission, and disappoint citizens who often feel that business takes priority over their universal rights, including the right to health and the right to a clean and healthy environment. For these reasons, it is essential that the management of pesticides is maintained in DG SANTE, or transferred to DG ENV, jointly with additional resources,” concluded the entities belonging to the Pan Europe network.