Today I learned that the European Commission has withdrawn their proposal ‘regards maximum residue levels for cycloxydim, flonicamid, haloxyfop, mandestrobin, mepiquat, Metschnikowia fructicola strain NRRL Y-27328 and prohexadione in or on certain products.’
On 21 April April, the Environment Committee voted against the proposal. The full Parliament would not have been able to vote on the challenge before the deadline of 6 May. The plenary met on 13-14 May. See previous post.
The Commission intends to re-submit their proposal in July after the recess.
This will be the third case when the Commission withdrew a proposal after the Committee raised an objection to an RPS measure.
It is the first withdraw related to the COVID-19 crisis.
Follow Up
It appears that the Commission is now assessing delegated acts and draft RPS measures that are going to be transmitted to the Council and the EP.
It is clear that some secondary legislation is needed. Action is needed to address the COVID-19 crisis, and when there is a legal need to act by a certain time, and genuinely urgent.
The Commission will now produce a list of the ‘essential’ proposals. It will be interesting to see what degree of internal scrutiny the political leadership exercise when reviewing this list. Will the Services impose some self-restraint on what they deem to be ‘essential’?