Nachfolgend wird eine geringfügig veränderte und gekürzte Pressemitteilung der GUE/NGL dokumentiert.
The GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament welcomes the Parliament’s decision to ban pesticides in agriculture. The new measures against cancer-causing pesticides will protect consumers and help farmers to provide high-quality products. „The European Parliament has managed to develop stronger rules regarding pesticides despite resistance from the Council“, said MEP Roberto Musacchio (GUE/NGL, Italy). „Toxic products belong to a past in which agriculture policies were based on quantity rather than on quality, which was dangerous for everyone.“
Madeleine Jouye de Grandmaison (GUE/NGL, France) described the new rules as „a step in the right direction.“ She underlined that the package on pesticides also needs a „strong legal basis in the field of health protection and environmental policy“.
Irish GUE/NGL MEP Mary Lou McDonald however fears that the new measures against pesticides will harm the work of European farmers. „This package lacks the sufficient scientific rigour which is needed both to defend our health and our economy“, she explained and concluded: „The well-intentioned attempt to create a more sustainable countryside may ultimately undermine the countryside by imposing overly stringent rules on an already struggling farming population.“