EU scraps pesticide proposal in another concession to protesting farmers

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm is shelving an anti-pesticide proposal in yet another concession to farmers after weeks of protests that blocked major capitals and economic lifelines across the 27-nation bloc. Although the proposal had languished in EU institutions for the past two years, the move by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was the latest indication that the bloc is willing to let some environmental concerns slip to keep the farming community on its side. Farmers have insisted that measures like the one on pesticides would increase the bureaucratic burden and add to the price gap between their products and cheap foreign imports.