I’m sorry for all of you reading this outside of the European Union, this doesn’t really apply to you.
There is a Dutch language article on the subject here.
For you Europeans, there is an important vote coming up on Tuesday in the EU parliament on the issue of pesticide use in Europe. For Holland this is a very important issue, because there is a great deal of pollution caused by agricultural poisons. A large percentage of these pesticides are used by the flower industry in order to grow blemish free cut flowers and flower bulbs for export. These pesticides are of course different than what is used for food, and have different criteria for safety.
These pesticides are polluting the surface water, meaning drinking water has to come from deeper and deeper wells, a process that can’t continue forever.
Holland also has many important and fragile ecosystems that are kept under constant stress by the use of these chemicals.
The upcoming vote, this Tuesday 17 July, is for a series of amendments to an already agreed upon resolution. Among other things these measures call for a 50% reduction in pesticide use in the next 10 years (amendment 119), creation of a new pesticide tax (amendment ITRE 2) and allocation of money for organic agriculture (amendment 287).
A secret vote on these measures is planned! In case some of you thought we lived in a democracy that was sensitive to the wishes of the people, apparently in this case they don’t want the pressure of public opinion. As well as encouraging your representatives to support these measures, please also encourage them to voluntarily make their votes public so it’s clear who should be supported in the next elections.
