EU scraps pesticide proposal in another concession to protesting farmers
The European Union’s executive arm is shelving an anti-pesticide proposal in yet another concession to farmers after weeks of protests that blocked major capitals and economic lifelines across the 27-nation bloc
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm shelved an anti-pesticide proposal Tuesday in yet another concession to farmers after weeks of protests that blocked many capitals and economic lifelines across the 27-nation bloc.
Although the proposal had languished in EU institutions for the past two years, the move by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was the latest indication that the bloc is willing to sacrifice environmental priorities to keep the farming community on its side. Despite concessions, protests continued from the Netherlands to Spain and Bulgaria.
Farmers have insisted that measures like the one on pesticides would increase bureaucratic burdens and keep them behind laptops instead of farming, adding to the price gap between their products and cheap imports produced by foreign farmers without similar burdens.
The pesticide “proposal has become a symbol of polarization,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. ”To move forward, more dialogue and a different approach is needed.”
