Farm lobby allies with pesticide firms to weaken EU rules
Europe's main farming lobby is partnering with agrochemical giants to dismantle pesticide safety rules, directly undermining the health of the farmers it claims to represent.
Copa-Cogeca, which represents European farmers, is hosting pesticide industry lobby CropLife EU at its Brussels offices on Wednesday. The joint event targets MEPs ahead of a critical amendment deadline this week, aiming to radically weaken the EU's pesticide authorisation framework.
Their primary target is the European Commission’s Food and Feed Omnibus proposal, which would eliminate renewal assessments for pesticides. These re-evaluations are the primary mechanism for updating risk assessments when new scientific evidence emerges. The parliament's lead rapporteur on the bill, EPP MEP Herbert Dorfmann, has already introduced amendments that the Commission itself admits would lower health protection standards, aided by far-right MEP Michele Picaro.
The regulatory push ignores mounting scientific evidence of harm to agricultural workers. Germany, France, and Italy all recognise Parkinson’s disease as an occupational illness for farmers exposed to chemicals. According to Dutch expert Jorrit Hoff, scientists firmly link pesticide exposure to the disease. Furthermore, an EU-funded SPRINT project found an average of 80 different pesticides in the household dust of conventional farms, a figure far exceeding levels found in organic homes.
Current EU rules already contain significant loopholes. Neurotoxicity is inadequately assessed during approvals, and ten hazardous substances flagged as "candidates for substitution" remain legally on the market. Rather than demanding stricter checks, Copa-Cogeca is actively lobbying to remove the existing safeguards.
The alliance also contradicts the economic interests of farmers. CropLife EU, which counts Bayer and Syngenta among its members, lobbied for the EU-Mercosur trade agreement signed last December despite fierce opposition from farming protests. The industry has also fought EU attempts to block imports produced with pesticides banned in Europe.
While Copa-Cogeca previously coordinated its anti-regulation campaigns with the pesticide industry in secret—such as the 2021 effort to undermine the Farm to Fork strategy using discredited studies from Wageningen University—it is now openly collaborating. Critics argue the lobby group is allowing its platform to be used to legitimise the continued sale of hazardous products at the direct expense of farmers' health.
