"We need to support biological control, not dismantling safeguards for chemical pesticides" (MEPs letter)

A letter to the European Commission, including Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, has been sent by 5 MEPs from the Greens-EFA (European Free Alliance) group on 24/11/2025 about the DG Sante draft proposal for an Omnibus Regulation on Food and Feed Safety.

On 04/11/2025, Olivér Várhelyi, proposed, in a draft simplification package to be presented by the end of the year 2025, to remove systematic periodic renewals of approval for all active substances, except candidates for substitution. In their letter, MEPs expressed their concerns regarding this proposal.

"These proposals would critically weaken the pesticide regulation 1107/2009 and thereby the protection of public health and our ecosystems", state the MEPs.

Furthermore, the signatories of this letter, including Anna Strolenberg, one of the rapporteurs of the report for a faster registration and uptake of biological control agents in plant protection, called for the Simplification Omnibus on Food and Feed Safety to focus on ensuring a faster registration and uptake of biocontrol.

"We need to…