(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2021)0037),

–  having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 338(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C9‑0009/2021),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the provisional agreement approved by the committee responsible under Rule 74(4) of its Rules of Procedure and the undertaking given by the Council representative by letter of 17 June 2022 to approve Parliament’s position, in accordance with Article 294(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A9-0285/2021),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Approves the joint statement by Parliament and the Council annexed to this resolution, which will be published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union;

3.  Takes note of the statement by the Commission annexed to this resolution, which will be published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union;

4.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

5.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

(As an agreement was reached between Parliament and Council, Parliament's position corresponds to the final legislative act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2379.)

JOINT STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL IN RELATION TO REGULATION (EU) 2022/2379, AS REGARDS THE IMPORTANCE OF ESTABLISHING IN ALL MEMBER STATES A REGISTER HELD BY NATIONAL COMPETENT AUTHORITIES ON THE USE OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS IN AGRICULTURE

As part of the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy highlight the need for a transition to a sustainable food system, in particular by reducing the use and risk of pesticides by 50 % by 2030 and by increasing organic farming and biodiversity-rich landscape features on agricultural land.

Under Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1), the full collection of data on the use of plant protection products by professional users in an agricultural activity, that is a coverage of 95 % of the use in each Member State, can only be achieved when a legal requirement for professional users of plant protection products to transmit their records in electronic format to national competent authorities is applicable under Union law.

The European Parliament and the Council recognise the importance of introducing such a requirement into Union legislation and commit to working together to that end.

STATEMENT BY THE COMMISSION IN RELATION TO REGULATION (EU) 2022/2379, AS REGARDS ON-GOING WORK TO ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT OF THE RECORDS TO BE KEPT BY PROFESSIONAL USERS OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 67(1) OF REGULATION (EC) NO 1107/2009

The European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy establish a reduction in the use and risk of chemical pesticides as a key objective for the Union. In order to ensure effective and impactful policies, robust and comprehensive data on the use of pesticides at farm level is crucial. The on-going work to ensure the availability in electronic format of the records kept by professional users of plant protection products is an important enabling factor to implementing the reporting obligations on pesticides that are part of Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2) (SAIO).

Therefore, the Commission has prepared a draft Commission Implementing Regulation, on the basis of Article 67(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3), as regards the content and format of the records of the use of plant protection products to be kept by professional users in accordance with Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.

That Implementing Regulation would, if adopted as currently foreseen, regulate the record-keeping required under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in detail, including by identifying the elements to be recorded by the professional users, and by ensuring that those records will be available in electronic format from 1 January 2025 at the latest.

The draft of that Implementing Regulation is currently under discussion in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, Section Phytopharmaceuticals - Legislation. The Commission intends to seek the opinion of the committee pursuant to Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council(4) in the coming months.

The Commission intends to adopt that Implementing Regulation before the end of 2022.

(1) Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on statistics on agricultural input and output, amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008, (EC) No 543/2009 and (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 96/16/EC (OJ L 315, 7.12.2022, p. 1). (2) Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on statistics on agricultural input and output, amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008, (EC) No 543/2009 and (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 96/16/EC (OJ L 315, 7.12.2022, p. 1). (3) Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC (OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 1). (4) Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).