A team of researchers of the Wageningen University and Research Centre (Agricultural University of the Netherlands) published on 28 October a 150 page report on the economic impact of the proposed revision of the directive 91/414 on thirteen of the most important crops grown in the Netherlands. Below is a summary of the report.
When I attended the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament with colleagues on Monday to give evidence the question of an EU-wide impact assessment of the 91/414 revisions was again raised. The Commission response was that they had undertaken an impact assessment in 2006. However, this impact assessment is widely considered to have been insufficient.
It will be recalled that the impact assessment issued by the UK’s Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) earlier this year made a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the legislation currently being considered within the co-decision process. The assessment attracted some critical comments both from the Commission and the European Parliament, but it also heightened awareness of the possible impacts of some aspects of the proposals on European farming. The PSD has now issued a revised impact assessment which is available on their website. Click here to view.
We recently attended the European Voice debate on the role for pesticides in sustainable agriculture (disclaimer: the event was sponsored by ECPA, as is Pesticide Information). We were not permitted to film the debate itself, which is a shame, seeing as the event aimed to give a voice to all sides of the debate – much like Pesticide Information. Luckily, we were able to conduct some short interviews with attendees just after the event, the first of which was with Roger Waite, who is the editor of AGRA FACTS, a Brussels-based newsletter that closely monitors EU agriculture policy.
