Green Deal: Halving pesticide use by 2030

In June 2022, as part of the Green Deal, the European Commission adopted a proposal to restore damaged ecosystems and restore Europe's nature from agricultural land and seas, to forests and urban environments, by 2050. As part of this, the Commission proposes to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides, as well as the use of the more hazardous pesticides, by 50% by 2030.

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, stressed: “It is time to change course on how we use pesticides in the EU. This is about the health of our citizens and our planet. Through this proposal, we are delivering on our citizens expectations and on our commitments in the Farm to Fork Strategy to build a more sustainable and healthy food production system. We need to reduce the use of chemical pesticides to protect our soil, air and food, and ultimately the health of our citizens. For the first time, we will ban the use of pesticides in public gardens and playgrounds, ensuring that we are all far less exposed in our daily lives. The Common Agricultural Policy will support farmers financially to cover all costs of the new rules for a period of 5 years. No one will be left behind.” 

The targets proposed include reversing the decline of pollinator populations by 2030, increasing biodiversity in agricultural and forest ecosystems and restoring and rewetting of drained peatlands. The proposal will help ensure the resilience and security of food supply in the EU and across the world.

Further information on the proposal can be found in this article, on the EU’s Sustainable use of pesticides page and in this video.

Download the following related documents from the Europa website:

• Questions and Answers on New rules to reduce the risk and use of pesticides
• Factsheet on reducing the risk and use of pesticides in Europe
• Factsheet on more sustainable use of pesticides in Europe
• Factsheet on supporting farmers to reduce the use of chemical pesticides

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You can also take a look at the EIP-AGRI spotlight pages on Sustainable use of Pesticides and Plant health here.