"Pesticides for life? No thanks!": across France, protests against a "devastating" European deregulation project
https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2026/10/10/pesticides-a-vie-non-merci-partout-en-france-des-mobilisations-contre-un-projet-europeen-de-deregulation-devastateur_6790949_3244.htmlThis time, the protest is against Omnibus X, a draft legislative text put forward by the European Commission. Intended to strengthen "food safety" and the competitiveness of European agriculture, the text includes a series of unprecedented relaxations of pesticide regulations.
Omnibus X proposes in particular to thoroughly review their approval system by authorizing them indefinitely, with the exception of the most dangerous ones (classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction).
Today, manufacturers must undergo a risk reassessment of their molecules every ten to fifteen years to obtain an extension of their authorization. This process allows for consideration of advances in scientific knowledge regarding the health and/or environmental effects of substances. Although considered imperfect due to its slowness caused by the backlog of applications—more than 400 active substances are currently authorized in the European Union—this system has led to the withdrawal of authorization for around thirty pesticides in fifteen years.
...
This proposal has also sparked unprecedented outrage within the scientific and medical community. The International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, the European Society of Endocrinology, and many others have signed a dozen opinion pieces by learned societies. In mid-September, nearly 600 scientists and physicians from leading European research centers sent an open letter to the President of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, warning of a "dangerous step backward" and demanding a suspension of negotiations until an independent study of the proposal's health and environmental impacts has been conducted. Unfortunately, on September 30, the 27 member states reached a "compromise" on the Commission's proposed text.
The only "progress" is that the member states want to limit unlimited authorizations to pesticides classified as "low risk." Otherwise, they are endorsing Brussels' demands: extending authorization periods from ten to fifteen years for initial approval and from fifteen to twenty-five years for renewal; extending the grace period during which a substance can remain on the market beyond its ban to three years (compared to the current six months) to allow for the depletion of existing stocks; and extending the emergency exemptions for banned pesticides beyond the current 120 days.