Brussels  -  A European Union row over attempts to update the bloc's rules on the use of pesticides looked set to last at least until the summer as member states said Monday that they were unhappy with the way a proposed compromise protected human health.

"As far as we see at the moment, we will still not be able to make a compromise on the (pesticides) regulation today," Slovenian Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc, chairing the meeting of EU farms ministers, said.

"There are at least three open blocks of questions" on the proposal, and some EU member states are not happy with the compromise put forward by the Slovenian government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, he said.

The proposal is intended to update the EU's rules on the use of pesticides by bringing in stricter criteria on what dangerous substances can be used in the 27-member bloc.

But some member states are unhappy with the presidency's proposals on how they should define which substances are to be banned, how they should share information on them, and how far they should recognize and accept the use of substances approved in other EU members.

The EU's executive, the European Commission, also questioned some of the provisions in the proposal.

The proposed compromise "leaves a lot of uncertainty (on health issues), and that is what I am afraid of. When it is uncertain relating to dangerous substances, I am a little bit sceptical," EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said.

Britain, Ireland, Hungary and France have all threatened not to support the proposal as it stands, diplomatic sources said.

The presidency now hopes to reach a compromise in June, Jarc said. (dpa)