62021CJ0162_SUM
Case C‑162/21
Pesticide Action Network Europe ASBL and Others
v
Belgian State
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the le Conseil d’État (Belgium))
Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 19 January 2023
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Environment – Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Article 53(1) – Emergency situations in plant protection – Derogation – Scope – Seeds treated with plant protection products – Neonicotinoids – Active substances posing high risks to bees – Prohibition of the placing on the market and outside use of seeds treated with plant protection products containing those active substances – Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/784 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/785 – Non-applicability of the derogation – Protection of human and animal health and the environment – Precautionary principle)
Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Marketing authorisation for plant protection products – Exception to the general rule
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009, Arts 28(1), 29(1)(a), and 53(1))
(see paragraphs 34, 38, 39)
Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Seeds treated with plant protection products – Specific restriction or prohibition measures – Derogation under Article 53(1) – None
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009, recital 33 and Arts 49(2) and 53(1))
(see paragraphs 40, 41)
Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Directive 2009/128 – Member States’s duty relating to the promotion of low pesticide-input pest management, giving priority to non-chemical methods
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2009/128, Art. 14(1))
(see paragraph 44)
Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Application of the precautionary principle – Scope
(Art. 191(2), first para., TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009, recitals 8 and 24 and Art. 1(3) and (4))
(see paragraphs 45-49)
Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Application of the precautionary principle – Prohibition of the placing on the market and use of seeds treated with plant protection products
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009, Art. 53(1); Commission Regulations No 2018/784 and No 2018/785)
(see paragraphs 43, 50-54, operative part)
See the text of the decision.