Ahead of the discussion planned for Wednesday 20 July on the proposal to renew the authorisation of glyphosate for a further 10 years, the two MEPs that arranged a public hearing on the Monsanto Papers at the European Parliament for 11 October next, made a heated appeal to the member states on Tuesday 18 July to reject the Commission proposal.
The appeal made by Eric Andrieu (S&D France) and Marc Tarabella (S&D Belgium) is the response that these two MEPs delivered to the appeal launched to the member states from Commissioner Andriukaitis who is responsible for Health and food Safety, to approve the proposal by qualified majority, so that the Commission is not alone in making the decision (see EUROPE 11831).
The two MEPs are furious that the Commissioner deemed that the “scientific controversy is closed”. In a joint press release, the two MEPs argue that the, “European Commission is sitting on the European Parliament and the 1.3 million Europeans who signed the European Citizens Initiative” (“Stop glyphosate”).
Last year, Parliament called for a seven-year authorisation period, subject to numerous restrictions on its use.
Agricultural and grain lobbies want 15-year authorisation. The agricultural and grain lobbies are making the same demand they made last year, for the authorisation to be granted for 15 years. This is the aim of the letter Coceral and Copa-Cogeca sent to member state representatives meeting at the PAFF committee this Wednesday. They explained that this is the most widely used herbicide and it is important for crops and, “It is vital to respect science-based decision-making and maintain trust in EFSA".
It should be recalled that the opinion provided by EFSA and the ECHA - arguing that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic to human beings - contradicts the scientific opinion from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, which claims that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)