Evaluation of pesticide use restrictions near urban areas in the European Union

The European Commission’s strategies under the European Green Deal aim at reducing the risks to human health and the environment from pesticide use. One of the proposed policies to achieve that goal is a restriction in use of pesticides within and near urban areas. In this study, we aim to estimate the impact of a full pesticide use restriction on crops near urban areas at the EU scale, by combining available EU data on urban settlements and crops. We will achieve this by utilizing spatial layers from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), including the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) and the EUCROPMAP 2018 integrated with information from the Corine Land Cover (CLC) 2018.Using various buffer distances from urban areas, the study seeks to quantify the agricultural area and crop types that will be impacted by the full restriction in use. The results will also provide insights into the percentage of treated vs. non-treated crops present in these buffer zones, highlighting country and regional differences. The economic importance of crops, together with reduced crop yields can be explored as well. Additionally, reduction in health risk to residents can be estimated from information on crop-specific intensities in pesticide use.