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A stable and reliable food supply in Europe has over recent decades become normal. This has been achieved in many cases by the use of pesticides to control pests, weeds, and diseases, plus fertilisers to supply additional nutrients. Pesticides play an essential role in the food production process, maintaining or enhancing crop yields in conventional arable farming. However, they can also lead to harmful effects in the environment, including aquatic ecosystems and risks to human health. There is now widespread concern about the addition of a substance to the environment designed to be toxic to some part of the ecosystem.
European policies aimed at reducing the potential risk from pesticides mainly lie under the Plants Protection Products Regulation (EC, 2009b), the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (EU, 2009) and the Biocidal Products Regulation (EU, 2012). The Water Framework Directive (WFD) (EC 2000) and its daughter directives add legislation to protect water quality. There is however, little evidence to show whether this legislation has been effective, mainly because of a lack of data to demonstrate the actual risk of pesticides in surface waters and groundwater at the European level (EEA, 2018a). Addressing this gap is of high interest for policy, practitioners, and the public owing to potential risks pesticides present to both the environment and public health.
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"maintaining or enhancing crop yields and protecting quality in both conventional and organic arable farming"
Suggest to also mention organic farming for completeness.
"However, they can also lead to harmful effects in the enrivonment..." Investigation of possible adverse side effects on non-target organisms and the environment are part of the approval process of pesticides. In case a pesticide is not safe for the environment, it will not be approved. Therefore, this statement is misleading and biased.
Although the report is meant to assess pesticide effects in particular it would be good to also mention the risk of chemicals of various origins to set the right context.