**5. Conclusions**

The residue levels of imidacloprid and thiamethoxam used for seed treatment of sugar beet plants were below the maximum permitted residue level at the time of harvest and were highly dependent on weather conditions, in particular rainfall. The results of this research show that the seed treatment of sugar beet leaves minimal trace in plants because of the complete degradation by the end of the growing season while higher residue concentration in the soil shows that there is risk in dry climates or after a dry period. The results of our study provide additional arguments for a possible risk assessment for sugar beet seed treatment in the succeeding crop and irrigation scenarios and provide further guidance for the assessment and/or reassessment of the use of neonicotinoids in sugar beet production. However, further investigation is needed to assess the possible neonicotinoids uptake by succeeding crops.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, R.B.; data curation, H.V.G. and Z.D.; formal analysis, M.G. and R.B.; funding acquisition, R.B.; investigation, H.V.G., M.C., Z.D., and D.L.; methodology, M.G. and R.B.; project administration, H.V.G.; supervision, V.D.U. and R.B.; visualization, H.V.G. and Z.D.; writing—original draft, H.V.G.; writing—review and editing, V.D.U., R.B., and D.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was supported by the European Social Fund within the project "Improving Human Capital by Professional Development through the Research Program in Plant Medicine" [HR.3.2.01-0071].

**Acknowledgments:** We thank Detlef Schenke and Martina Hoffman from the JKI Institute in Berlin for collaboration and support regarding residue analyses.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
