EU Parliament Stalls on Pesticide Approval Overhaul as Protests and Lobbying Claims Mount
12 October 2026, Paris: The European Parliament has not set a date to vote on the European Commission’s proposal to extend how long pesticide active substances can stay approved in the EU, even as a coalition of more than 100 civil society organizations prepares nationwide protests in France for October 10 and 11, and a Brussels transparency group alleges industry lobbying shaped the text now before lawmakers.
The proposal, part of a wider “Food and Feed Safety Simplification Omnibus” package known as Omnibus X, would lengthen the maximum approval period for most pesticide and biocide active substances, currently 10 to 15 years, to as long as 25 years, according to estimates from the French NGO Générations futures. The Council of the EU, under Ireland’s rotating presidency, adopted a negotiating mandate on the file on September 29 and 30, scaling back the Commission’s original plan for near-unlimited approvals of most substances while still lengthening authorization periods well beyond current limits. Générations futures estimates that at least 49 of the 421 synthetic active substances currently approved in the EU would see their approval windows extended under the plan.
The European Parliament’s environment (ENVI) and agriculture (AGRI) committees were originally expected to hold a joint vote on a compromise text on October 5. That vote did not happen. A negotiating meeting planned for late September was postponed, and as of the first week of October no new vote date had been set, according to the environmental health group Bee Life and French outlet Basta!. More than 500 scientists, along with public health and environmental officials, had earlier signed a letter calling for the process to pause until an independent assessment of the proposal’s impacts is completed.
The delay has been accompanied by a dispute over how the text was drafted. On October 7, the Brussels-based watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory published an analysis alleging that specific demands from pesticide manufacturers and farm lobby groups, including CropLife Europe, Bayer and Copa-Cogeca, are closely reflected in both the Commission’s original proposal and in amendments tabled by the dossier’s co-rapporteurs, MEPs Herbert Dorfmann (European People’s Party) and Michele Picaro (European Conservatives and Reformists). The group pointed to provisions it says mirror industry requests directly, including grace periods of up to three years for pesticides that have been withdrawn or banned, and wider opt-outs from standard approval criteria. Corporate Europe Observatory also named EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi and the Commission’s health directorate, DG SANTE, as having discussed an unlimited-approval option with industry in meetings it says were not disclosed to public interest groups. These are allegations from an advocacy organization rather than findings from an independent inquiry, and neither the Commission, the named MEPs, nor the companies cited have publicly responded in the sources reviewed for this article.
Against that backdrop, more than 100 organizations, including Greenpeace France, Générations futures, Foodwatch, Médecins du Monde and several farmer and pesticide-victim groups, are organizing rallies across France on October 10 and 11 under the banner “pesticides à vie, non merci” (no to lifetime pesticides). The French National Assembly is separately scheduled to debate a resolution from deputy Benoît Biteau between October 10 and 14 calling for the Omnibus to be rejected outright.
The file is not resolved. Once the Parliament adopts its own position, it must negotiate a final text with the Council, with both institutions aiming for a provisional agreement by the end of 2026.
Also Read: Syngenta Launches New Fungicide Kadexa SC in Canada
Global Agriculture is an independent international media platform covering agri-business, policy, technology, and sustainability. For editorial collaborations, thought leadership, and strategic communications, write to pr@global-agriculture.com
