GLOBAL 2000 presents a petition to ministers Totschnig, Gewessler and Rauch
Vienna/Strasbourg (OTS) – One day before the potentially decisive vote on the EU pesticide reduction law, SUR (“Sustainable Use Regulation”) in the European Parliament plenary session GLOBAL 2000 presents the petition “Bee poison. Poison for you. to the Minister of Agriculture, Norbert Totschnig, the Minister of the Environment, Leonore Gewessler, and the Minister of Health, Johannes Rauch. scale 30,000 Austrians (1) call on policymakers for ambitious pesticide reduction targets. The petition was also sent to Austrian members of the EU Parliament.
“People in Austria and Europe demand that politicians significantly reduce the health and environmental burden caused by pesticides. This is evidenced by the 29,133 people who have signed our current petition, as well as two European citizens’ initiatives co-initiated by GLOBAL 2000, whose calls for real pesticide reductions are each supported by more than 1 million people,” states Agnes Zauner, General Director of GLOBAL 2000.
Specifically, GLOBAL 2000 calls on responsible ministers and Austrian members of the EU Parliament to end Austria’s blockade and make a constructive contribution to the rapid implementation of the 50% reduction in pesticides in the EU. Farmers must be supported in the necessary transition to good agriculture of the future, small-scale, diversified and sustainable agricultural structures must be promoted and organic farming must be further expanded.
Unfortunately they show Statements by the Minister of Agriculture, Norbert Totschnig on the sidelines of the last EU Agriculture Council of Ministers, which said that reducing pesticides was “not viable”, that the Austrian government’s representatives in the Council are still not doing justice to the mandate of their citizens.
Also in tomorrow’s plenary vote in the European Parliament The law on pesticide reduction risks being seriously weakened. Proposals for changes came from the European People’s Party and right-wing groups that aimed to massively dilute the reduction targets and other elements of the law. “Unfortunately, it is to be expected that the Popular Party, with the support of right-wing groups, will try again to completely defeat the proposed law”, he states Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, GLOBAL 2000 environmental chemist.
(1) Photos of the signature delivery can be downloaded here. The current number of signatures for the day is 29,133. Due to the final mobilization, there are more signatures than when the photo delivery sign was made.
Questions and contact:
Selina Englmayer, GLOBAL 2000 press spokesperson, +43 699 14 2000 26, [email protected]