The Commission presented a report on the Member
States' National Action Plans and on progress made in the
implementation of Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of
pesticides.
As a reminder, Directive 2009/128/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council, adopted in the framework of the 2006
thematic strategy on the sustainable use of pesticides,
provides for a series of actions to achieve a sustainable use of
pesticides in the EU:
- by reducing the risks and impacts of pesticide
use on human health and the
environment;
- by promoting the use of integrated pest
management (IPM) and alternative
methods or techniques, such as non-chemical alternatives to
pesticides.
National Action Plans:
Member States were required to adopt National Action Plans (NAPs)
to implement the Directive for the first time by November 2012.
These plans should contain quantitative objectives, targets,
measurements and timetables to reduce the risks and impacts of
pesticide use.
All Member States have adopted such plans, in many
cases with significant delays. The report notes, however, that
these plans differ widely in terms of completeness and
coverage. It concludes that there are significant
shortcomings in many areas of the plans, for example with
regard to:
- aerial spraying:
aerial spraying is banned and derogations are only granted under
strict conditions. In 2014 and 2015, only 14 Member States actually
granted derogations. Under these derogations, pesticides were
applied on 1.1 million hectares, of which 70 % was agricultural
land and 30 % forestry, covering approximately 0.2 % and 0.1 % of
the total respective areas. In 2015, almost 95 % of the reported
aerial spraying was accounted for by only two Member States: Spain
with 339 000 hectares, Hungary with 88 000 hectares. The areas
treated under derogation have decreased significantly in recent
years. The Commission will nonetheless continue assessing how
Member States assess derogation requests, including through audits,
to ensure that the strict conditions for these derogations are
respected and properly controlled;
- public information:
all NAPs include planned measures to provide information to the
public. Only Romania and Spain establish defined targets in this
area. However, it is still possible to improve the dissemination of
good practices and for these practices to be used more widely to
inform the public and stakeholders;
- collection of information on case of
poisoning: while Member States
generally have systems to gather information on pesticide acute
poisoning, the accuracy of this data and its use was questioned.
Systems for gathering such information on chronic poisoning are not
widely implemented;
- measures to protect the aquatic
environment: Member States have
taken a range of measures to protect the aquatic environment from
pesticide use, but in the absence of measurable targets in most
national action plans it is difficult to assess the progress
achieved;
- Integrated pest management (IPM): the eight general principles of integrated pest
management are specified in Annex III of the Directive. However,
how these principles are to be applied in practice is not
explicitly defined. Given that Integrated Pest Management is a
cornerstone of the Directive, the Commission expressed concern that
Member States have not yet set clear targets and ensured their
implementation, including for the more widespread use of land
management techniques such as crop rotation.
The report concluded that Member States need to
improve the quality of their plans, primarily by establishing
specific and measurable targets and indicators for a
long term strategy for the reduction of risks and impacts from
pesticide use. These improvements should be included in the revised
action plans, which would allow Member States to continuously
monitor progress.
The Commission will assist Member
States, in particular
through:
- the implementation plan on increasing low-risk
plant protection product availability and accelerating
integrated pest management implementation in Member States. This
plan, presented by the expert group on phytosanitary protection
compatible with sustainable development, set up under the Dutch
Presidency, was approved by the Council in June 2016;
- finalise guidance on
monitoring and surveying of impacts of pesticide use on human
health and the environment by the end of 2017 and will consider
establishing systems for collecting information on suspected
poisoning from pesticides;
- the development of methodologies to assess
compliance with the eight IPM principles, taking into account
the diversity of EU agriculture and the principle of
subsidiarity;
- work with Member States in the second half of 2017
towards reaching a consensus on the development of harmonised
risk indicators;
- cooperation with Member States to disseminate examples
of good practice in implementation
through Working Groups and training, with priority being given
under the Better Training for Safer Food programme to strengthen
Member States capacity in their understanding and implementation of
sustainable use principle.
Building on the series of six fact-finding visits to
Member States in 2017, the Commission will continue evaluating
the NAPs and to monitor implementation of the Directive by Member
States through its audits, other actions and follow-up
activities to ensure that the objectives of the Directive are being
achieved. If necessary, the Commission will give consideration to
infringement action.
Following the adoption of revised national action
plans, and with the updated information available to it, the
Commission will produce a further report which will enable a more
comprehensive assessment of the state of implementation of the
Directive.