PAN EU et al v. State of Belgium

Reference :

244.702, 249.843, 227.244/XIII-8.644

Complaint date :

January 21, 2019

Status :

Provisional judgment

Place of jurisdiction :

Belgium, Brussels

Plaintiffs types :

Environmental NGOs, Individuals, Beekeepers/Honey Producers

Plaintiffs names :

PAN Europe, Nature & Progrès Belgique, Benoît Dupret

Defendants :

State of Belgium

Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice :

Antoine Bailleux

Case nature :

Administrative

Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) :

, Neonicotinoid, Thiamethoxam, Clothianidin, Cruiser, Cruiser 600 FS, Poncho Beta

Requests :

Suspension and cancellation of six decisions authorising the use of neonicotinoid insecticides banned in the EU. And refer questions to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling.

Name of the Court :

Council of State of Brussels, Belgium

Jurisdiction level :

Decision date :

June 5, 2020

Decision nature :

Negative

Decision content :

The request for suspension is rejected. The Council of State postponed its decision pending the response of the CJEU.

Legal basis :

Court Ruling :

Link to the ruling

Summary :

By a request filed on January 21, 2019, the associations PAN Europe and Nature et Progrès Belgium and Benoît Dupret request, on the one hand, the annulment of "six decisions authorizing the use of insecticides based on active substances 'neonicotinoids' banned in the European Union, for the treatment, placing on the market and sowing of sugar beet, lettuce, chicory, radicchio rosso and sugar loaf seeds, and carrots" and secondly, the suspension of the execution of these decisions.

The request for an extreme emergency suspension was rejected on January 27, 2020. On the merits of the case, the Conseil d'Etat referred five questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling on February 16, 2021.

The CJEU answered them in a judgment dated January 19, 2023 (see C-162/21). The CJEU considers that a Member State may not authorize the placing on the market of plant protection products for the treatment of seeds, nor the use of seeds treated with such products, where the placing on the market and use of seeds treated with such products have been expressly prohibited by an implementing regulation.

Scientific references :

No scientifice reference for this case.