In August 2009, EU Commission enacted a regulation that focuses on reducing the risks to human health and the environment caused by the rising use of pesticides in Agriculture. The regulation was then referred to as the Sustainable use of Pesticides Directive 2009/128/EC. The directive was framed in such a way that it promotes the concept of Integrated pest management in Agricultural fields. IPM is an approach that considers all available plant protection methods and non-chemical alternatives to the pesticide.

Since its date of enaction, the directive is not been effectively implemented by the EU member states to achieve its goals. Currently, the EU Commission is about to fix this shortcoming and is looking forward to reimplementing the ineffective pesticide directive by being in line with the EU’s goal of the European Green Deal. In June 2022, the EU Commission proposed to replace the Sustainable use of the Pesticide Directive and implement it through the European Union.

The proposal focuses on setting targets for member states to reduce the use of pesticides in Agriculture by 50% by the year 2030. In addition to the setting of targets, the directive proposes the regulation of pesticide usage in Sensitive areas such as parks, gardens, public areas, residential areas, etc. Organizations that look forward to using pesticides in sensitive areas need to get approval from the concerned authorities. The proposal is available in the public domain and soon will be tabled in the EU parliament for a healthy debate by the member states before it becomes the law of the land.

Reference: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/06/23/european-commission-wants-to-slash-use-of-chemical-pesticides-by-50-by-2030
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12413-Sustainable-use-of-pesticides-revision-of-the-EU-rules_en