Food and feed Omnibus: "The weakening of pesticide protection standards is unlawful" (PAN/legal opinion)

"The European Commission's planned abolition of pesticide protection standards is unlawful", states a legal opinion published by Pesticide Action Network (PAN Europe) on 27/01/2026.

Commissioned by PAN Europe with Aurelia Foundation, ClientEarth, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Deutscher Naturschutzring, foodwatch and Umweltinstitut München, the report examines the legal grounds of the "Food and feed safety simplification Omnibus" legislative package, presented by the European Commission on 16/12/2025.

"There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the goal of simplifying procedures and thereby easing the administrative burden on the Union and the Member States, as well as on businesses and consumers", states the report. "However, experience with the Omnibus packages to date suggests that minor progress in reducing bureaucracy has come at the cost of abandoning key achievements in the areas of human rights, health, and environmental protection."

The main pitfalls, according to the opinion, are:

• that it would "significantly lower the level of protection in the fields of health and environmental…