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The Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, appreciates the decision announced by the head of the European Commission, to withdraw the bill on the reduction in pesticide consumption, which put Romanian farmers at a disadvantage.
"I am glad that the president of the European Commission came to the conclusion that the SUR Regulation was totally wrong and took the decision to withdraw the provisions regarding the limitation of plant protection products. I have argued in every AgroFish Council and in all my public appearances that the reduction in terms of percentages, without taking into account the specifics of each member state, cannot help either the environment or the farmers! I thank my fellow PSD MEPs who rejected by vote the proposal for a Regulation that put Romanian farmers at a disadvantage!" the minister of agriculture wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
"We have the duty to listen to the voice of the farmers, to support them and to make the best decisions for the future of agriculture in each member state," Barbu also wrote on the social media page.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed on Tuesday the withdrawal of a bill intended to halve the use of pesticides in the EU, which was blocked by MEPs and criticized in the recent agricultural protests.
A central element of the European Green Pact, the legislative project on pesticides proposed in June 2022 by Brussels planned to halve the use and risks of phytosanitary chemical products at the EU level by 2030 (compared to the period 2015-2017).
The proposal, which was rejected at the end of November in the European Parliament, while the negotiations between the states were deadlocked, "has become a symbol of polarization", she declared in the EP plenary session in Strasbourg.
"I will propose that commissioners withdraw this proposal", added Ursula von der Leyen, without excluding a future "much more mature version, with the participation of the interested parties."
