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Fact or Fiction? Case C-616/17 and the
Compatibility of the EU Authorisation Procedure
for Pesticides with the Precautionary Principle
Sophia PAULINI*
This contribution analyses whether the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) provides
clarifications on the normative implications that the precautionary principle entails in the
context of Regulation 1107/2009, laying out the EU authorisation procedure for pesticides,
in its recent judgement in Case C-616/17. In this judgement, which is a response to a request
for a preliminary ruling by a French criminal court on the compatibility of certain aspects of
Regulation 1107/2009 with the precautionary principle, the CJEU concludes that the
questions of the referring court reveal nothing capable of affecting the validity of the
regulation. According to the CJEU, to ensure conformity with the precautionary principle,
the EU legislature must establish a normative framework that makes available to competent
authorities sufficient information to adequately assess the risks to health resulting from the
pesticide in question. However, the CJEU’s substantive analysis of the compatibility of the
different aspects of Regulation 1107/2009 with the precautionary principle is not conducted
concretely in light of this legal standard, but constitutes a mere testing of the general
adequacy of Regulation 1107/2009. Furthermore, the CJEU’s judgement examines
Regulation 1107/2009 in a vacuum without considering problems that have occurred in its
implementation or application.
I. I
NTRODUCTION
The circumstances leading to the request for a preliminary ruling in Case C-616/171are
rather curious: a number of individuals were charged with criminal offences for entering
and causing damage to weed killer products containing glyphosate in a shop in Ariège,
France. Before the Tribunal Correctionnel de Foix (Criminal Court of Foix or referring
court), the defendants argued that their acts were meant to serve to warn shops and their
customers about the dangers of weed killers containing glyphosate, to prevent sales of
glyphosate products as well as to protect public health and their own health. The
defendants raised necessity and the precautionary principle as defences and requested
*Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; email: paulini@law.eur.nl. I would like to thank the
anonymous reviewer for the constructive comments. The usual disclaimer applies.
European Journal of Risk Regulation (2020), page 1 of 17 doi:10.1017/err.2020.19
© The Author(s), 2020.Published by Cambridge UniversityPress. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the
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permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is
included and the original work is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for
commercial re-use.
1Case C-616/17 Blaise and others [2019] EU:C:2019:800.
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the Criminal Court of Foix to refer questions on the legality of Regulation 1107/2009
concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market2to the Court of
Justice of the European Union (CJEU or Court).3This was accepted by the public
prosecution as it found that the legality of Regulation 1107/2009 may affect the legal
foundation of the prosecution of the defendants.4The Criminal Court of Foix thus
referred to the CJEU questions on the compatibility of Regulation 1107/2009 with the
precautionary principle as regards four particular aspects related to risk assessment:
the lack of definition of the concept of “active substances”; the insufficient
consideration of cocktail effects in the authorisation procedure of plant protection
products; the scientific evidence of the safety of the products being submitted by the
applicant intending to place the product on the market; and, finally, the exemption of
the authorisation application for plant protection products from long-term toxicity and
carcinogenicity tests.
There are a few aspects of the judgement of the CJEU’s Grand Chamber in Case
C-616/17 that would be worth a more detailed discussion: first, the judgement is a
continuation of the saga around glyphosate, the “omnipresent”5pesticide that appears to
divide politicians and scientific bodies, occupies courts, concerns the public and
ultimately casts major doubts on the viability of the European Union (EU) authorisation
procedure for pesticides in Regulation 1107/2009 to protect public health and the
environment. Another interesting element of this judgement is the circumstances of the
request for a preliminary ruling, the Court’s acceptance of the latter and the peculiar
situation of a national criminal court expressing doubts as to the legitimacy of an EU
regulation on the placing on the market of pesticides. This article, however, will focus
on the CJEU’s testing of the compatibility of Regulation 1107/2009 with the
precautionary principle. As will be explained, the concept of the precautionary principle
in EU law is subject to ambiguities, due to which the concrete normative implications
that the principle entails are not certain. In this article, the extent to which the Court
provides clarifications on the normative implications of the precautionary principle in
the context of Regulation 1107/2009 will thus be analysed.
As a first step, this article will provide a brief description of the authorisation
procedure for pesticides in Regulation 1107/2009, followed by an overview of the
legal status and definition (or lack thereof) of the precautionary principle in EU law.
The article will then move on to analyse the CJEU’s judgement in Case C-616/17
by first examining what are, in the view of the Court, the obligations that the
precautionary principle poses to the legislature in the context of Regulation
1107/2009. The findings of the Court as to the compatibility of Regulation
1107/2009 with the precautionary principle will then be analysed to finally present
two observations on the reasoning of the Court.
2Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the
market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC [2009] OJ L309/1.
3Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 28.
4Case C-616/17 Blaise and others, Opinion of Advocate Sharpston [2019] EU:C:2019:190, para 33.
5European Parliament, “EU’s Pesticide Risk Assessment System: The Case of Glyphosate”(Study for the ENVI
COMMITTEE 2016) <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/587309/IPOL_STU(2016)
587309_EN.pdf>(last accessed 26 February 2020).
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II. T
HE
EU
PESTICIDE AUTHORISATION PROCEDURE IN
R
EGULATION
1107/2009
The EU authorisation procedure for the placing on the market of plant protection
products –commonly referred to as pesticides –is set out in Regulation 1107/2009.
Among the objectives of the regulation is to lay down harmonised rules on the
placing on the market of plant protection products as well as their use and control
and to thereby ensure a high level of protection of human and animal health as well
as the environment.6Pursuant to recital 8 and Article 1(4) of Regulation 1107/2009,
the precautionary principle is to be applied and is underpinning the regulation.
Regulation 1107/2009 lays down a prior authorisation system, according to which
substances can only be placed on the market if approved or authorised, whereas the
burden of proof is on the applicant to establish that the active substance or plant
protection product does not have harmful effects on human or animal health or
unacceptable effects on the environment.
The authorisation system in Regulation 1107/2009 follows a hazard-based approach.
This means that in an assessment of a respective substance, the latter is tested for certain
harmful properties, such as carcinogenicity, and in the case of a harmful property being
found, it will not be authorised.7This stands in contrast to a risk-based approach,
according to which a substance could, despite its harmful properties, still be
authorised if its harmful properties are low, manageable or simply worth accepting
due to the benefits that the substance in question provides.8However, Regulation
1107/2009 allows for the approval of an active substance that does not satisfy the
necessary safety criteria for a limited period if the substance is necessary to control a
serious danger to plant health that cannot be contained by other available means.9In
addition, the approval of an active substance (as well as of safeners and synergists)
may be made subject to certain conditions and restrictions, such as the manner and
conditions of application.10
Regulation 1107/2009 lays down a centralised EU-wide approval procedure for
active substances (the active components operating against pests and plant
diseases),11,12 safeners (substances added to plant protection products to eliminate or
reduce phytotoxic effects)13,14 and synergists (which can give enhanced activity to
active substances).15,16 There is a separate authorisation procedure at the Member
State level for plant protection products, which are products in the form in which they
6Art 1 of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
7E Bozzini, Pesticide Policy and Politics in the European Union, Regulatory Assessment, Implementation and
Enforcement (Palgrave Macmillan 2017) at p 30.
8ibid.
9Art 4(7) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
10 Art 6 of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
11 European Commission, “Approval of active substances”<https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/approval_
active_substances_en>(last accessed 26 February 2020).
12 Section 1 of Chapter II of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
13 Art 2(3)(a) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
14 Section 2 of Chapter II of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
15 Art 2(3)(b) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
16 Section 2 of Chapter II of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
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are provided to the user (ie compounds containing actives substances, safeners or synergists)
to be used to protect plant products against harmful organisms and other related uses.17
An approval procedure for the use of an active substance, safener or synergist starts with
the submission by the applicant who intends to place the substance on the market of an
application for authorisation to any Member State, which acts as the Rapporteur
Member State for the purpose of the authorisation procedure.18 In the application for
approval, the applicant must submit information that demonstrates neither the substance
nor its residues have any harmful effects on human health, including that of vulnerable
groups, and animal health –taking into account known cumulative and synergistic
effects –or any unacceptable effect on the environment.19 The Rapporteur Member
State draws up a “draft assessment report”in which it determines whether the
substance in question meets the above approval requirements.20 The draft assessment
report of the Rapporteur Member State is then forwarded to the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) for it to adopt conclusions on the safety of the substance in light of
current scientific and technical knowledge.21 Taking into account the assessment of the
Rapporteur Member States and EFSA, the Commission draws up a review report and a
draft regulation,22 on which the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal
Health takes a vote.23
The authorisation of plant protection products takes place at the level of Member
States.24 The applicant of the authorisation must submit certain information to prove
the safety of the product to the competent authority in the Member State. The latter
conducts an assessment of the application and either grants or refuses the
authorisation.25 The applicant may then apply for the mutual recognition of the
authorisation by other Member States under a zonal system.26 Pursuant to this
zonal system, the holder of an authorisation of a plant protection product in one
Member State may apply for mutual recognition of the authorisation in a different
Member State in the same geographical zone, as determined in Annex I of Regulation
1107/2009. In order to have a plant protection product authorised in a zone other than
that in which a respective plant protection product has already been authorised, a new
authorisation procedure must be initiated.27
According to Bozzini, EU policy is commonly criticised for the existence of a “gap
between the ambition of adopted regulations and the modesty of results on the
ground”.28 It appears that Regulation 1107/2009 is accused of the same by a number
17 Chapter III of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
18 Art 7(1) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
19 Art 4 of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
20 Art 11 of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
21 Art 12 of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
22 Art 13(1) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
23 Art 13(2) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
24 Art 28(1) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
25 Arts 36(1) and (2) of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
26 Art 40 of Regulation 1107/2009, supra, note 2.
27 Bozzini, supra, note 7, 43.
28 Bozzini, supra, note 7, 109.
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of civil society and regulatory initiatives launched with the aim of improving Regulation
1107/2009. Following the controversy around glyphosate and the application of the
renewal of its authorisation, a Special Committee –the PEST Committee –was set
up in the European Parliament to conduct an assessment of the EU’s authorisation
procedure for pesticides and to focus on, among other things, the independence of the
procedure from industry and its transparency.29 According to the findings of the
PEST Committee, which were relied on by the defendants in the proceedings of Case
C-616/17,30 the EU has one of the most stringent systems for the authorisation of
pesticides in the world, but “both [Regulation 1107/2009] as such and its
implementation need to be improved for it to achieve its purpose”.31 Similarly, a
coalition of stakeholders and scientists called “Citizens for Science in Pesticide
Regulation”criticises that “the rules [of Regulation 1107/2009] are not implemented
properly and the regulatory system is allowing private interests to be given priority
over health and the environment”, and it calls for “[a] full reform of the current
pesticide risk assessment and risk management systems”.32
In another development, a European Citizen’s Initiative called for, among other things,
the ban of glyphosate and the reform of the EU procedure to approve pesticides.33
In particular, the European Citizen’s Initiative expressed concern about the reliability
and transparency of the risk assessment and demanded that scientific studies in support
of pesticide approval should be commissioned by public authorities and should
be published.34 The European Commission responded with Regulation 2019/138135
on the transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain,
which will be applicable as of 2021 and stipulates that EFSA is to “carry out its
activities with a high level of transparency”and “make public ::: scientific data,
studies and other information supporting applications, including supplementary
information supplied by applicants”.36 Regulation 2019/1381 is also establishing “an
additional verification tool”by way of which “the Commission, in exceptional
circumstances of serious controversies or conflicting results, may request [EFSA] to
commission scientific studies with the objective of verifying evidence used in its risk
assessment process”.37 Arcuri and Hendlin argue that Regulation 2019/1381 is “a first
29 European Parliament decision of 6 February 2018 on setting up a special committee on the Union’s authorisation
procedure for pesticides, its responsibilities, numerical strength and term of office (2018/2534(RSO)).
30 Blaise and others, Opinion of Advocate Sharpston, supra, note 4, para 82.
31 European Parliament resolution of 16 January 2019 on the Union’s authorisation procedure for pesticides
(2018/2153(INI)).
32 “Citizens for Science in Pesticide Regulation –A European Coalition”<https://citizens4pesticidereform.eu/>(last
accessed 26 February).
33 European Citizens’Initiative: Ban Glyphosate and Protect People and the Environment from Toxic Pesticides
<http://www.banglyphosate.eu/>(last accessed 26 February).
34 “Annex to the European Citizens’Initiative: Ban Glyphosate and Protect People and the Environment from Toxic
Pesticides”<https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/initiatives/details/2017/000002_en>(last accessed 26 February).
35 Regulation (EU) 2019/1381 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the transparency
and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain and amending Regulations (EC) No 178/2002, (EC) No
1829/2003, (EC) No 1831/2003, (EC) No 2065/2003, (EC) No 1935/2004, (EC) No 1331/2008, (EC) No 1107/2009,
(EU) 2015/2283 and Directive 2001/18/EC.
36 Art 1(7) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1381, supra, note 35.
37 Recital 25 and Art 1(6) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1381, supra, note 35.
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step in changing the current system towards more stringent accountability and
transparency”, but it ”fails to meet the requests of the European citizens”.38
Notably, Regulation 1107/2009, together with Regulation 396/2005 on maximum
residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin,39 is
currently subject to the European Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance
(REFIT) programme. The REFIT programme aims to assess “the accomplishment of
the objectives, the efficacy of the enforcement as well as the effectiveness of the
pesticides legislation”,aswellasto“identify the problems of compliance and
underline which factors hinder the achievement of the objectives of the legislation”.40
III. T
HE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE IN
EU
LAW
Pursuant to Article 191(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
(TFEU),41 the policy of the EU on the environment must aim at a high level of
protection and be based on, among other principles, the precautionary principle. The
latter was added to the foundational environmental principles that are to guide
environmental policies in the EU by the Maastricht Treaty42 in 1992. However, long
before the formalisation and codification of the precautionary principle in the
Maastricht Treaty, the principle was –albeit not being named as such –tacitly
endorsed in the jurisprudence of the European Courts and in the legislation of the
European Economic Community.43
Although the only express reference to the precautionary principle in the EU treaties is
made in Article 191(2) TFEU in the field of environmental policy, the scope of
application of the precautionary principle is not limited to the environmental field.
Article 11 TFEU stipulates that “environmental protection requirements must be
integrated into the definition and implementation of the Union’spoliciesand
activities”. Relying on the “horizontal nature”44 of Article 11 TFEU in combination
with Article 191(2) TFEU, the EU Courts extended the scope of the principle beyond
environmental policy. In Artegodan, the Court of First Instance (CFI) found that the
precautionary principle is intended to be applied in order to secure a high level of
human health, environmental and consumer protection in the definition and
38 A Arcuri and YH Hendlin, “The Chemical Anthropocene: Glyphosate as a Case Study of Pesticide Exposures”
(2009) 30 King’s Law Journal 248.
39 Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on
maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food andfeedofplantandanimalorigin and amending Council
Directive 91/414/EEC [2005] OJ L70/1.
40 European Commission, “Evaluation and Fitness Check (FC) Roadmap”<https://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/
roadmaps/docs/2016_sante_197_ealuation_plant_protection_products_en.pdf>(last accessed 26 February 2020); at
the time of writing, the adoption of the draft Report to the Council and the European Parliament on the REFIT
evaluation is still pending.
41 Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [2012] OJ C326/47.
42 Treaty of Maastricht [1992] OJ C191.
43 For examples of jurisprudence, see Case C-174/82, Officier van Justitie v Sandoz BV ECR 2445 and Case C-83/80,
Officier van Justitie/Kaasfabriek Eyssen ECR 409; for examples of legislation, see Council Decision 80/372/EEC of 26
March 1980 concerning chlorofluorocarbons in the environment [1980] OJ L 90/45 and Council Directive 90/220/EEC
of 23 April 1990 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms [1990] OJ L 117.
44 A Alemanno, Trade in Food: Regulatory and Judicial Approaches in the EC and the WTO (Cameron May 2007)
at p 111.
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implementation of all EU policies, as is required by the treaties, and “can be defined as a
general principle of Community law”.45
Despite the pronouncement of the precautionary principle as a general principle of EU
law by the EU Courts, there does not exist a universally accepted definition of the
precautionary principle in EU law.46 While it is argued that this is because the
application of the precautionary principle is contextual, dependent on the policy area
concerned and by its nature discretionary,47 the ambiguity around its precise meaning
is a particular issue of contention for its critics, who have argued that the
precautionary principle can lead to arbitrary decision-making and protectionism.48
The lack of a universally endorsed definition of the principle creates ambiguity around
its normative implications. The majority of definitions of the precautionary principle in
EU law put forward an understanding of the principle as providing public authorities with
the discretion to take protective measures in situations of scientific uncertainty. For
example, a frequently reiterated articulation of the concept of the precautionary
principle was provided by the CJEU in the BSE judgements and constitutes one of
the first times that the CJEU expressed the essence of the principle.49 According
to the CJEU, “Where there is uncertainty as to the existence or extent of human
health, the institutions may take protective measures without having to wait until the
reality and seriousness of those risks become fully apparent”.50 Article 7 of Regulation
178/2002, the General Food Law Regulation,51 contains the first definition of the
precautionary principle in EU legislation.52 According to Article 7(1), “In specific
circumstances where, following an assessment of available information, the
possibility of harmful effects on health is identified but scientific uncertainty persists,
provisional risk management measures necessary to ensure the high level of health
protection chosen in the Community may be adopted, pending further scientific
information for a more comprehensive risk assessment”.
45 Joined Cases T-74/00, T-76/00, T-83/00 to T-85/00, T-132/00, T-137/00 and T-141/00 Artegodan v Commission
[2002] ECR II-04945, paras 183–84.
46 JZander,“The Application of the Precautionary Principle in Practice: Comparative Dimensions”(Cambridge
University Press 2010) at p 93; E Stokes, “The EC Co urts’Contributio n to Refining the Parameters of Precaution”
(2008) 11 Journal of Risk Research 493; D Bourguignon, “The Precautionary Principle: Definitions, Applications
and Governance”(European Parliamentary Research Service 2015) at p 6; R Lofstedt, “The Precautionary Principle
in the EU: Why a Formal Review Is Long Overdue”16 Risk Management 140; J Scott, “Legal Aspects of the
Precautionary Principle”(A British Academy Brexit Briefing 2018) at p 7.
47 N de Sadeleer, “The Precautionary Principle in European Community Health and Environment Law: Sword or
Shield for the Nordic Countries?”in N de Sadeleer (ed.), Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Approaches
from the Nordic Countries, EU and USA (Earthscan 2007) p 12; Stokes, supra, note 46, 492.
48 GMajone,“What Price Safety: The Precautionary Principle and Its Policy Implications”(2002) 40 Journal of
Common Market Studies 89.
49 Curiously, the CJEU in the BSE judgements did not refer to the precautionary principle by its name, even though
the two judgements were issued following the codification of the precautionary principle by the Maastricht Treaty.
50 Case C-157/96 The Queen v Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Others ex parte: The National
Farmers’Union and Others [1998] ECR I-02211, para 63; Case C-180/96 United Kingdom v Commission of the
European Communities [1998] ECRI-02265, para 99.
51 Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the
general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down
procedures in matters of food safety [2002] OJ L31/1.
52 Alemanno, supra, note 44, 122.
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However, there are also instances in the jurisprudence of the EU Courts where the
precautionary principle is defined as an imperative requiring action to be taken in
certain situations of scientific uncertainty. For example, in Pfizer, the CFI found
that “by reason of [the precautionary principle] a public authority can be required to
act even before any adverse effects have become apparent”.53 In French Republic v
European Commission, the CFI stated that “where [a risk faced] exceeds the level of
risk deemed acceptable for society, the institution is bound, by reason of the
precautionary principle, to adopt provisional risk management measures necessary to
ensure a high level of protection”.54 There is thus a variety of definitions expressing
the precautionary principle with a range of normative implications, leaving
ambiguous the precise positive obligations that derive from the principle under EU
law. For example, in the case of a regulation setting out a regulatory framework for
the authorisation procedure for a specific object of substance –such as Regulation
1107/2009 –in a policy field in which the precautionary principle applies, it is clear
that pursuant to Article 191(2) TFEU such a regulation has to be based on the
precautionary principle. Less certain, however, are the concrete normative
implications that derive from Article 191(2) TFEU in such cases (ie what the
obligation to be based on the precautionary principle actually entails).
The questions of the referring court –concerned with the compliance of several risk
assessment aspects in Regulation 1107/2009 with the precautionary principle –also touch
upon the role of the precautionary principle in risk assessment. According to the
European Commission, the precautionary principle is exclusively part of risk
management and, in particular, weighs in on the questions of whether to act and how
to act. The European Commission emphasises that views according to which the
precautionary principle is also part of risk assessment policy confuse the
precautionary principle with a prudential approach to risk assessment.55 de Sadeleer,
on the other hand, argues that “[f]rom a legal point of view, nothing precludes that
the risk assessment stage has to be carried out in accordance with the obligations
stemming from the precautionary principle”,aswellasthat“in order to deal
effectively with uncertainty, ambiguity, and ignorance, assessors should apply
precaution at an early stage”.56 Similarly, Stirling finds that “insisting that precaution
relates only to risk management entirely misses its real value in highlighting more
diverse ways to gather relevant knowledge”,suchasby“draw[ing] attention to a
broader range of non-reductive methods, which avoid spurious promises to determine
‘science-based’policy”.57 According to Peel, the implementation of the precautionary
principle in the context of risk assessment “will require attention to the issue of
53 Case T-13/99 Pfizer Animal Health v Council [2002] ECR II-03305, para 444.
54 Case T-257/07 French Republic v European Commission [2011] ECR II-05827, para 81.
55 European Commission, “Communication from the Commission on the Precautionary Principle”(Communication)
COM (2000) 1 final.
56 N de Sadeleer, “The Precautionary Principle in EC Health and Environmental Law”(2006) 12 European Law
Journal 139, 148.
57 AStirling,“Risk, Precaution and Science: Towards a More Constructive Policy Debate. Talking Point on the
Precautionary Principle”(2007) 8 EMBO Reports 312–13.
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how regulatory frameworks incorporate broader input –most usually from the general
public –into processes for the selection and assessment of health and environmental
risks”.58
IV. T
HE JUDGEMENT
1. Testing conformity of Regulation 1107/2009 with the precautionary principle
Due to the above-mentioned ambiguity as to the concrete normative implications of
the precautionary principle, it is worth taking a closer look at what are, in the view of
the Court, the obligations that derive from the precautionary principle in the context
of Regulation 1107/2009.
Firstly, the Court confirms the applicability of the precautionary principle to
Regulation 1107/2009 as constituting a policy protecting public health within the
common agricultural policy or internal market policy.59 According to the Court,
“There is therefore an obligation on the EU legislature, when it adopts rules
governing the placing on the market of plant protection products, such as those laid
down in Regulation 1107/2009, to comply with the precautionary principle, in order
to ensure ::: a high level of protection of human health”.60 The Court then defines
the precautionary principle as providing the possibility of taking protective measures
in a situation of uncertain risk, without having to wait for the materialisation of that risk.61
The CJEU proceeds to elaborate how the legislature can ensure compliance with the
precautionary principle in the context of Regulation 1107/2009. First of all, the Court
finds that mere references to the precautionary principle within the Regulation –such
as those in recital 8 and Article 1(4) of Regulation 1107/2009 –are insufficient to
prove compliance with the principle.62 According to the CJEU, “A correct application
of [the precautionary principle] in the area covered by Regulation No 1107/2009
presupposes, first, identification of the potentially negative consequences for health of
the use of the active substances and plant protection products falling within its scope,
and, second, a comprehensive assessment of the risk to health based on the most
reliable scientific data available and the most recent results of international research”.
The CJEU finds that in order to be able to undertake these two steps in the
application of the precautionary principle, it is for the EU legislature to establish a
“normative framework”that makes available to competent authorities “sufficient
information in order to adequately assess ::: the risks to health resulting from the
use of those active substances and those plant protection products”.63 Thus, according
to the Court, for the legislature to be in conformity with the precautionary principle,
the regulatory framework that the legislature sets up must ensure that the competent
58 J Peel, “Precautionary Only in Name? Tensions between Precaution and Risk Assessment in the Australian GMO
Regulatory Framework”in E Fisher, J Jones and R von Schomberg (eds), Implementing the Precautionary Principle,
Perspectives and Prospects (Edward Elgar 2006) p 203.
59 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 41.
60 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 42.
61 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 43.
62 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 45.
63 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 47.
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authorities have all of the information to properly assess the risks involved. The Court is
silent as to whether this is the only obligation that the legislature needs to fulfil in order to
be in conformity with the precautionary principle. Nonetheless, unlike the European
Commission, according to which the precautionary principle only applies in risk
management, the Court clearly regards the precautionary principle as having a role in
risk assessment.
Finally, the standard of review that the Court is applying to test the validity of
Regulation 1107/2009 is whether the EU legislature committed a manifest error of
assessment in adopting Regulation 1107/2009 in that the general rules of the
regulation do not satisfy the requirements arising from the precautionary principle.64
2. Findings of the CJEU
The Criminal Court of Foix referred four questions on the compatibility of the risk
assessment aspects of Regulation 1107/2009 with the precautionary principle for a
preliminary ruling to the CJEU. In particular, the questions of the Criminal Court of
Foix are concerned with the lack of definition of the concept of “active substances”,
the insufficient consideration of cocktail effects in plant protection products in the
authorisation procedure, the scientific evidence on the safety of the product being
submitted by the applicant and, finally, the exemption of the authorisation application
for plant protection products from long-term toxicity and carcinogenicity tests. The
Court, after having examined the latter aspects of Regulation 1107/2009, concludes
that the questions of the referring court reveal nothing capable of affecting the
validity of the regulation.65 In the following, the reasoning of the Court is analysed in
more detail.
a. Designation of “active substances”
The first question referred to the CJEU by the Criminal Court of Foix is concerned with
the compatibility with the precautionary principle of the lack of precise definition of
“active substance”in Regulation 1107/2009. According to the Criminal Court of
Foix, the ambiguity as to the meaning of the concept of “active substance”in
Regulation 1107/2009 could enable the applicant in an authorisation application for a
plant protection product to freely designate what is the active substance in a given
product and focus the dossier for its authorisation application only on one substance,
despite the end product being made of several substances.
The CJEU finds that the concept of “active substance”is sufficiently delineated
for the purposes of Regulation 1107/2009 and also rejects the concern of the referring
court that the applicant has the discretion to freely choose a substance of a product to
be regarded as the active substance. Although the term “active substance”is not
defined in Article 3 setting out various other definitions, Article 2(2) gives sufficient
meaning to it. According to Article 2(2), “active substances”for the purpose of
Regulation 1107/2009 are “substances, including micro-organisms having general or
64 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, paras 50–51.
65 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 117.
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specific action against harmful organisms or on plants, parts of plants or plant products”.
Moreover, in the view of the Court, the specific information required for the dossiers to be
submitted by the applicant for the authorisation application for a plant protection product
enable the identification of the respective active substances. The Court further refers to
the task of the competent authority of the Member States to assess whether the
identification of the active substance by the applicant has been carried out and to
verify whether each of the active substances contained in the plant protection product
has been subject to prior approval (as a precondition for the authorisation of a plant
protection product). Finally, the holder of an authorisation risks the withdrawal of the
authorisation if not all active substances have been identified in the authorisation
application.
b. Disregard of “cocktail effects”in plant protection products
The referring court also asks about the compatibility of the precautionary principle with
Regulation 1107/2009 given that it disregards the presence and cumulative effect of
multiple active substances and, in particular, there being no analysis at the EU level
of the cumulative effect of several active substances in a plant protection product.66
The CJEU holds that both the authorisation procedure for active substances (Chapter
II) and the procedure for plant protection products (Chapter III) in Regulation 1107/2009
set out requirements according to which the potential effects of the combination of
various constituents need to be considered. In the approval procedure for active
substances, the safety of one or more representative uses of at least one plant
protection product containing the respective active substance must be established. In
the view of the CJEU, this assessment “cannot be carried out in an objective fashion
while failing to take into account the effects deriving from a possible combination of
various constituents of a plant protection product”.67 Moreover, the regulation
mandates taking into account the cumulative and synergistic effects of an active
substance in the assessment of its safety, which must also be considered in the
assessment by EFSA.68
In the assessment of the safety of plant protection products, the Court finds that
cumulative and synergistic effects are again sufficiently considered pursuant to the
general approval criteria, as well as by way of the uniform principles for the
evaluation and authorisation of plant protection product that are to be adopted by
Member States.69
Furthermore, according to the Court, based on applicable data requirements, the
applicant of the authorisation must submit information on likely cumulative and
synergistic effects caused by interactions between active substances, safeners,
synergists and the co-formulants.70 The Court further finds that the specific rules on
66 Notably, while it has also been criticised that the assessment of the cumulative effects of several plant protection
products on one crop is disregarded by the authorisation procedure in Regulation 1107/2009, the question of the referring
court is limited to the cumulative effects of various active substances in one plant protection product.
67 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 68.
68 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, paras 68–69.
69 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, paras 71–72.
70 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 73.
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safeners, synergists and co-formulants in Articles 25 and 27 further ensure that if there are
any safeners, synergists and co-formulants contained in a product, the safety of those
must also be assessed.71
c. Bias in studies, tests and analyses submitted by the applicant and
confidentiality rules
The Criminal Court of Foix further asks whether in the authorisation procedure of
Regulation 1107/2009 –in which tests, analyses and evaluations for the dossier are
conducted by the applicant of the authorisation alone –the precautionary principle is
observed and impartiality is maintained. According to the Criminal Court of Foix, the
applicant may be biased in the presentation of the scientific evidence and there is no
independent counter-analysis of the material submitted by the applicant, nor are the
application reports published for reasons of protecting industry secrets.
According to the Court, the rules setting out that it is the applicant –intending to place
the product on the market –who for both active substances and plant protection products
submits the studies, tests and analyses are “the corollary of the principle ::: that it is for
the applicant to prove that the active substance or plant protection product that is the
subject of an application for approval or authorization fulfils the relevant criteria laid
down by that regulation”.72 These rules ensure that it is not presumed that the
substances in question have no harmful effects and therefore “contribut[e] to
achieving compliance with the precautionary principle”.73
The Court sees sufficient safeguard against potential bias in a number of information
requirements Regulation 1107/2009 sets out: the summary dossiers submitted as part of
the authorisation application must contain specific information (eg results of tests and
studies, the names of their owners and of the persons or institutes that have carried
out the tests and studies), the methods of analysis of an active substance must be
validated, its sufficiency must be demonstrated and the tests and analyses submitted
need to be official or officially recognised. In addition, evidence has to be submitted
that tests, studies and analyses have been carried out by a reliable institution and with
models that meet recognised scientific principles. Finally, the applicant is obliged to
submit scientific peer-reviewed open literature on the active substance published
within the last 10 years.74
According to the Court, the competent authorities and EFSA must take into account in
their assessment evidence beyond that submitted by the applicant and must not “give in
all cases preponderant weight to the studies provided by the applicant”.75 EFSA also has
the option of consulting experts or a Community reference laboratory.76
Regarding the applicable disclosure rules, the Court concedes that increased
transparency could enable the public to put forward arguments against the approval
71 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 74.
72 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 79.
73 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 80.
74 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, paras 83–91.
75 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 94.
76 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 98.
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of a substance and therefore have the potential to improve the assessment of the risk.77
However, according to the Court, there already exists ways for the public to get access
to the authorisation or approval application dossier. In the approval procedure for active
substances, EFSA must make a summary dossier (which includes summaries and results
of tests and studies) and the draft assessment report by the Rapporteur Member States
available to the public.78 Moreover, a person requesting any of the latter information to
remain confidential must prove that disclosure would undermine commercial
interests.79 The Court also refers to Directive 2003/4 on public access to
environmental information,80 which provides that Members States cannot deny
access for information on emissions into the environment due to concerns around
the protection of confidentiality. Referring to its judgement in Bayer CropScience
and Stichting De Bijenstichting,81 the Court states this covers “to a great extent”
studies that assess harm that could be caused by the use of plant protection products
as well as residues following the application of plant protection products.82
d. Testing of long-term carcinogenicity and toxicity of plant protection products
The final question of the referring court asks whether the compatibility of Regulation
1107/2009 with the precautionary principle is affected by Regulation 1107/2009
exempting plant protection products from toxicity tests and requiring only summary
testing performed by the applicant.
The Court finds that although Regulation 1107/2009 does not contain detailed
requirements on the nature of tests, analyses and studies as regards the authorisation
of plant protection products (while there are some specific tests required for active
substances), there is no exemption with respect to the submission of long-term
carcinogenicity and toxicity tests. According to the Court, the applicant has the
burden of proof to establish that the plant protection product intended to be placed on
the market has no immediate or delayed harmful effect on human health, whereas the
applicant’s burden of proof is not met if the product in question exhibits any long-
term carcinogenicity and toxicity. The Court concludes that the material submitted by
the applicant (ie tests, analyses, studies and other material) must therefore be
sufficient to exclude risks of toxicity and carcinogenicity, which will be verified by
the competent authorities in their examination of the application for the authorisation.
Cursory tests or summary tests, as the Court emphasises, are not sufficient to exclude
these risks.
77 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 102.
78 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, paras 103–04.
79 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 105.
80 Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to
environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC [2003] OJ L41.
81 C-442/14 Bayer CropScience and Stichting De Bijenstichting [2016] EU:C:2016:890; for other jurisprudence on
the access to risk assessment information in the context of pesticides, see, for example, Case T-716/14 Anthony C
Tweedale v European Food Safety Authority [2019] EU:T:2019:141; Case T-329/17 Heidi Hautala and Others v
European Food Safety Authority [2019] EU:T:2019:142; Case C-673/13 P Commission v Stichting Greenpeace
Nederland and PAN Europe [2016] EU:C:2016:889.
82 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, paras 106–08.
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3. Observations on the reasoning of the Court
a. The Court does not explicitly apply the standard that it has established for
Regulation 1107/2009 to be in conformity with the precautionary principle
As explained above, in its judgement, the Court lays down the standard that Regulation
1107/2009 has to meet to ensure conformity with the precautionary principle. According
to this standard, the normative framework set up by Regulation 1107/2009 must make
available to the competent authorities sufficient information for the assessment of the
risks to health that are posed by an active substance or plant protection product.
When the Court proceeds to assess the different aspects of Regulation 1107/2009,
however, it does not specifically and explicitly examine those aspects in the light of
how they contribute to or compromise such a normative framework. Instead, the
CJEU appears to merely test the general adequacy of Regulation 1109/2009.
For example, when the CJEU discusses the potential bias in the presentation of the
scientific evidence by the applicant, the Court does not appear to concretely assess
the extent to which the applicant producing the scientific evidence and studies on
which the risk assessment largely relies could affect the competent authorities’
availability of sufficient information. A potential concern that the Court could have
considered here is the risk of industry applicants omitting from the submission of
scientific evidence possible negative health effects, as was alleged in the context of
the approval of glyphosate and the Monsanto Papers.83 In a White Paper of the
“Citizens for Science in Pesticide Regulation”coalition, it is argued that “bias [on the
part of the applicant] could lead to toxic effects being hidden, misrepresented, or
misinterpreted (as not exposure-related, spontaneously occurring, or irrelevant to
humans, etc.)”.84 According to the European Parliament, although “the Regulation
requires the applicant to add scientific peer-reviewed open literature on the active
substance ::: for new active substances, normally only data from regulatory studies
generated by the applicant are available”.85 In particular, in such situations, the
possibility of the applicant omitting evidence of harmful health effects in an
authorisation application for a new substance and how the regulation is or is not
able to counteract against the risk of this happening would have been important
aspects for the Court’s assessment. Indeed, the fact that this is addressed in
Regulation 2019/1381 –which, among other things, obliges business operators to
notify EFSA of the title and the scope as well as the laboratory or testing facility of
any study commissioned or carried out by them to support an application –shows
that this aspect had been recognised as problematic by the EU legislator.86 The Court
could have also addressed how the procedure according to which scientific evidence
as to the safety of a substance is presented by the applicant relates to the main
83 Citizens for Science in Pesticide Regulation, Letter to EU Ministries Concerning: Action needed to ensure a higher
level of protection from pesticides in Europe (Brussels 2018) <https://citizens4pesticidereform.eu/wp-content/uploads/
2018/12/Coalition-letter-to-Permanent-Representatives-20181123.pdf>(last accessed 26 February 2020).
84 “Ensuring a Higher Level of Protection from Pesticides in Europe –The Problems with Current Pesticide Risk
Assessment Procedures in the EU –And Proposed Solutions”, White Paper prepared for “Citizens for Science in
Pesticide Regulation”(2018) p 10.
85 European Parliament resolution of 16 January 2019, supra, note 31.
86 Recital 21 and Art 1(6) on “Notification of Studies”of Regulation 2019/1381, supra, note 35.
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objective of a company to generate profits independently of the effects on public health
and the environment.87
In another instance, when responding to the referring court’s concern about the lack of
definition of the concept of “active substance”in plant protection products, the Court
makes the general finding that it is “not clearly evident that the criteria set out in
[Article 2(2) of Regulation 1107/2009] are insufficient to permit an objective
determination of the substances concerned”.88 However, if the Court strictly applied
the standard it set for testing the compatibility of the regulation with the
precautionary principle, the question it should ask is not whether it is clearly evident
that criteria are insufficient, but rather whether it is clear that they are indeed
sufficient for the competent authority to properly assess the risk. Here, the Court
could have also discussed the extent to which a flexible and open definition of the
concept of active substance could be beneficial for risk assessment in compliance
with the precautionary principle, as it could encompass novel types of active
substances that may fall out of a static definition.
Furthermore, in its discussion of long-term carcinogenicity and toxicity studies in the
authorisation procedure for plant protection products, the Court states that authorisation
applications for plant protection products are not exempt from testing long-term
carcinogenicity and toxicity. Despite it not being explicitly demanded in the
regulation, according to the Court, by way of the applicant’s burden of proof to
establish the safety of plant protection products, the applicant must provide
sufficient evidence to include long-term carcinogenicity and toxicity. The Court
does not, however, consider if in practice this is the case, and scientific evidence on
long-term carcinogenicity and toxicity is in fact submitted by the applicant or, if not
initially submitted, requested to be submitted by the competent authorities. In her
opinion, Advocate General (AG) Sharpston paints a different picture about why
long-term carcinogenicity and toxicity tests are not explicitly requested by
Regulation 1107/2009. AG Sharpston finds that requiring the applicant to submit an
assessment of long-term toxicity would involve additional costs and a longer
authorisation procedure. According to AG Sharpston, the non-existence of such a
requirement is thus a result of a balance that was struck between achieving an
appropriately high level of protection and the added value of authorised products
with the ability of enhancing agricultural productivity.89 The Court, however, has
not tested whether this balance was struck correctly and in conformity with the
precautionary principle. Again, testing whether this balance was struck correctly
would have been material in the assessment of whether the normative framework set
out by Regulation 1107/2009 makes available to competent authorities sufficient
informationtoassesstherisks.Inparticular,itwouldhavebeeninterestingtosee
whether the Court –when balancing obligations to submit evidence on long-term
87 H Vainio, “Public Health and Evidence-Informed Policy-Making: The Case of a Commonly Used Herbicide”
(2020) 46 Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health 107.
88 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 57.
89 Blaise and others, Opinion of Advocate Sharpston, supra, note 4, para 79.
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carcinogenicity and toxicity –distinguishes between first-time authorisations and
renewals of authorisations for plant protection products.
b. The Court adopts an analysis of the text of Regulation 1107/2009 in a vacuum
and disregards concerns around its implementation and application
Before the Court presents its findings in response to the questions of the referring court, it
clarifies that general criticism around the approval of glyphosate cannot –by itself –be
taken to mean that Regulation 1107/2009 is unlawful. According to the Court, “[T]he
validity of a provision of EU law is to be assessed according to the characteristics of
those provisions themselves and cannot depend on the particular circumstances of a
given case”.90 However, experiences of past cases could make visible potential
problems with the regulation, just as the case of glyphosate has put the shortcomings
of the regulation into focus and led initiatives, such as the European Parliament’s
PEST Committee, in their aim to improve the regulation. In her opinion,
AG Sharpston acknowledges this, stating that concerns relating to glyphosate do not
affect the integrity of the regulation “[u]nless concerns relating to glyphosate are
shown to be representative of a systemic and fundamental failure undermining the
[Plant Protection Product] Regulation and the aim that that regulation seeks to
achieve”.91 There are certainly lessons to be learnt from the glyphosate saga –as
elaborated in other contributions in this Special Issue –that are nevertheless not
considered by the Court. As can be seen from all of the above examples, instead the
Court adopts a purely mechanical interpretation of the text of Regulation 1107/2009
in a vacuum, without any reference to frequently raised issues around the practical
implementation and application of its respective provisions.
V. C
ONCLUSIONS
By establishing that for Regulation 1107/2009 to be compatible with the precautionary
principle it needs to contain a normative framework that provides to competent
authorities sufficient information to assess the risk of a substance, the Court’s
judgement has provided helpful clarification about the normative implications of the
precautionary principle. The latter obligation is likely applicable to similar
regulations setting out authorisation procedures for substances or objects. However,
the standard established by the Court has not been explicitly applied to the different
aspects of Regulation 1107/2009 that the Court is examining in its judgement, and
the judgement therefore lacks guidance as to the practical application of this
standard. Furthermore, the CJEU’s judgement examines Regulation 1107/2009 in a
vacuum without considering problems that have occurred in its implementation or
application and therefore constitutes a rather limited assessment of the authorisation
procedure.
90 Blaise and others, supra, note 1, para 48.
91 Blaise and others, Opinion of Advocate Sharpston, supra, note 4, para 44.
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In a Postscript to her opinion, AG Sharpston refers to the conclusions of the report of
the PEST Committee of the European Parliament, according to which the regulation as
such and its implementation need to be improved for it to achieve its purpose, and she
states that nothing in the AG’s opinion should be taken as meaning that there are no areas
of improvement. Her findings merely relate to whether the Regulation is vitiated by a
manifest error and therefore invalid, which she concludes is not the case.92 Possibly,
the Court adopted a rather cursory analysis of Regulation 1107/2009 –as is also
evidenced by the relative brevity of the judgement considering the complex subject
matter at hand –as it took account of the fact that the authorisation procedure
has already been reviewed by the European Parliament, improved by Regulation
2019/1381 and is currently undergoing the European Commission’sREFIT
programme.93 It is further important to note that the Court finding Regulation
1107/2009 invalid due to its incompatibility with the precautionary principle would
have had vast consequences, as it would remove the legal basis of numerous
substances approved and authorised under Regulation 1107/2009. Thus, the question
of whether the conformity of the EU authorisation procedure for pesticides in
Regulation 1107/2009 with the precautionary principle is a fact or merely fiction is
not settled with the CJEU’s judgement in Case C-616/17.
92 Blaise and others, Opinion of Advocate Sharpston, supra, note 4, paras 82–83.
93 In its Resolution of 16 November 2019, the European Parliament “calls on the Commission ::: to submit a specific
legislative proposal to amend the Regulation outside of the ongoing REFIT procedure, with a view to enabling a rigorous
high-quality fast-track evaluation, authorisation and registration process”, see European Parliament resolution of
16 January 2019, supra, note 31.
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