Golf Environment Organization

On the 23rd and 24th of October 2007, the European Parliament (EP) convened for the first reading of two key proposals regarding EU legislation on pesticides: "Regulation authorising the placement of pesticides (or PPPs – plant protection products) on the market"; and a "Directive on sustainable use of pesticides".

As part of this process, the EU is also examining a Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides – as the name suggests this isn’t a legislative proposal.

The authorisation proposal seeks to update an existing EU Directive from 1991 which – as many green-keepers can confirm - has already seen lots of PPPs taken off the market. The proposed “sustainable use” Directive is new.

The first reading went reasonably well for golf in certain respects but there are some important, mixed messages in what’s been agreed so far.

On the “use” Directive, key changes arguing for prohibition of PPPs in & around sports grounds were rejected. The EP instead voted to accept compromise amendments, the key proposal being that the use of PPPs shall be prohibited “or restricted to the minimum necessary” in sensitive areas such as sports grounds. The acceptance by the EP of these amendments is encouraging news for golf.

However, the EP plenary also voted on and approved the resolution on the EU’s Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides.
This included some articles which are more worrying for golf, stating that the EP:

“Considers that the use of pesticides should be prohibited in and around urban residential areas, public parks, sports grounds, school grounds and children's playgrounds, as the Commission has recognised that the risks to the general public from exposure to pesticides in such areas are high.”
So in certain key aspects, it seems that the text of the EP Resolution on the Thematic Strategy doesn’t match up to the text in the amendments proposed for the Directive on “use”. It’s reasonable to assume, however, that the legislative proposals are more important than the Thematic Strategy; the latter being more a political declaration than a legislative text. Clearly though, we have to keep a close on eye on negotiations between the European Commission, European Parliament & national governments in the EU Council of Ministers on these key issues for golf.

The three PPP proposals will remain a contentious package in the EP in the run-up to 2nd reading. No date for the 2nd reading in the EP has yet been fixed. The next step in the process is for the European Commission to decide whether to amend its proposed Directives and then for the EU Council of Ministers (the 27 national governments) to decide on what they want to do with the proposals.

If the Commission & Council approve all the EP amendments, then the Directives would be formally adopted quickly. This seems unlikely. More likely is that the Council will adopt its own “common positions” on the Commission’s proposals. Some politically sensitive common positions have taken several years to agree.

Once the common position is received by the EP, there are fixed & quite short-term timescales for the remainder of the EU decision-making process up to the final adoption of the EU legislation. However, until we know for sure what the national governments want to do with the Parliament’s amendments – timescales remain unclear.

In conclusion, given the various uncertainties, it’s still a bit early to assume golf’s in the clear. The Golf Environment Organisation, and Golf Europa, will strive to keep you updated as these directives progress through the EP.

If you’d like a bit more info on this, try the European Parliament’s excellent web videostream of the 1st reading debate available in 22 languages here.

To read the texts actually agreed at the EP first readings, follow these links:

• European Parliament legislative resolution of 23 October 2007 on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for Community action to achieve a sustainable use of pesticides.
• European Parliament legislative resolution of 23 October 2007 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market

Steve Pope is a former EU official and lobbyist who regularly monitors EU policies and funding programmes relating to golf. He currently advises GEO on EU policy developments.

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