09/10/2026
The EU’s Food and Feed Safety Omnibus has been presented as a way to cut red tape for farmers. But a new investigation by Corporate Europe Observatory suggests some of its most consequential changes read a lot like an industry wish list.
Using documents obtained through freedom of information requests, the report traces demands from Bayer, BASF, CropLife Europe and Copa-Cogeca into the Commission’s proposal and into amendments from the Parliament’s lead MEPs, Herbert Dorfmann and Michele Picaro. The biggest example is the plan to scrap the periodic safety reviews that approved pesticides currently go through every 10 to 15 years, in favour of “unlimited” approvals. The Financial Times, which saw the same documents, reports that parts of the proposal match industry requests. The Commission insists that “simpler rules are not weaker rules.”
When the Commission asked for public input, 6,380 people responded, and according to PAN-Europe the overwhelming majority opposed weakening pesticide rules. As the report points out, no impact assessment was carried out. More than 500 scientists and doctors have called for negotiations to pause.
A first consultation in July 2025 went to a short list of industry and farming groups, and everyone else had to wait until September. By December, the proposal looked a lot like what that first group had asked for.
The Parliament’s AGRI and ENVI committees are due to vote on 5 November.
Read the report, share it, and if you can, ask your MEP whose voices they’re listening to.