EU: dramatic insect decrease requires a complete and comprehensive ban

This Tuesday, the competent expert committee of the EU member states in Brussels voted on proposals of the European Commission for the ban on the three neonicotinoids imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam. Martin Häusling, agricultural policy spokesman for the Greens / EFA and member of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Environment, commented on the proposals:

"It is a sensible step for the EU Commission to extend the partial ban on the three highly venom-toxic insecticides that has existed since 2013 to all outdoor crops. However, the proposals are far from sufficient to stop the dramatic disappearance of bees and other insects. They are too late. But above all, they are still falling short. The toxins must necessarily disappear from the greenhouse horticulture", Häusling said.

New studies prove a previously underestimated toxicity

"After only one year, it became apparent that the ban on partial bans did not lead to a significant decline in the quantities used. The regulation should have been tightened up immediately. This should also have happened because almost every month new studies and studies are published, which prove a previously underestimated toxicity of the entire pesticide group", the Greeens reuire.

Affected are useful insects, which should not be the target of the poisons. Even vertebrates like birds are victims of poison attacks. Due to the longevity of the poisons, soils are also contaminated. They are a reservoir for the poisons and then reappear in wild plants. Especially the findings on the rapid transmission of insecticides from beneficial to wild plants are alarming. Because there is a risk of contamination of the entire environmental and food chain. Against this background, an exception to the application in greenhouses from the ban is negligent.

The present ban lags behind the current findings massively. Nonetheless, I appeal to the EU member states to agree to the prohibition proposal for EU-wide binding, improved measures, albeit weak ones. Member States are also free to put in place stricter application restrictions, as already announced or decided by the member states France, Ireland and Great Britain. Instead of taking this as an example, it remains to be hoped for Germany that still-Minister of Agriculture Christian Schmidt (CSU) will not prove again as a pesticide advocate and prevent stricter EU legislation to protect the environment.", said Häusling "