Advancing the One Health Framework in EU Plant Protection Product Regulation: Challenges and Opportunities

This paper explores the evolving integration of the One Health framework into the European regulatory landscape for plant protection products, focusing on key scientific and procedural challenges. The analysis addresses three fundamental components of risk evaluation—regulatory complexity, hazard identification, and characterisation—and exposure assessment, while providing an up-to-date overview of emerging policies and challenges affecting the sustainable use of plant protection products in Europe. Addressing these issues requires interdisciplinary collaboration among toxicologists, epidemiologists, ecologists, regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and public health experts, working synergistically to tackle complex risks. It emphasises that transitioning to more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems in line with One Health principles requires critically reviewing existing policies. By integrating evolving scientific knowledge with communication and agricultural production needs across diverse European contexts, this approach offers valuable insights to inform future policy development and risk management innovation.