The die has been cast. The European Parliament is to set up a special committee to look into the EU’s procedure for authorising pesticides, in the wake of concerns and controversy raised by the highly contentious renewal of the glyphosate marketing licence for a period of five years (see EUROPE 11921).
With the support of all political groups, the Conference of the Presidents of the Parliamentary groups gave the go-ahead in Strasbourg on Thursday 18 January to the composition of this committee (PEST committee), on the mandate of which there is agreement in principle.
The formal decision is for the European Parliament to make, however. It will put the proposal from the Conference of the Presidents to the vote at its plenary session from 5 to 8 February.
The special committee will comprise 30 members representing all the political groups in Parliament and will have nine months to assess the authorisation procedure for pesticides in the EU, identify potential failings in the scientific evaluation and authorisation or renewal of the authorisation of active substances, such as glyphosate.
It will assess, in particular, whether the European Commission acted in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 when taking decisions on the conditions for authorisation of glyphosate and its renewal, and examine potential conflicts of interest at all levels.
The special committee will determine whether the European agencies (EFSA and ECHA) are sufficiently well staffed and financed to be able to meet their obligations and carry out independent research and trials themselves.
It will also deliver any recommendations it deems necessary on the EU procedure for authorising pesticides in order to provide a high level of protection for human and animal health and for the environment.
For the moment, the make-up of the committee has not been decided but a proposal will be made to allow Parliament to vote on both the composition and the mandate, which may be amended by the plenary session. It is expected that the committee will be in place by the spring.
“This committee will shine a bright light on the Monsanto Papers and assess potential conflicts of interest between industry and European agencies”, said S&D MEPs Marc Tarabella (Belgium) and Eric Andrieu (France) who have been calling for a committee of this sort to be set up since April 2017. They added: “It will allow us to conduct an in-depth investigation into the whys and wherefores of this business, to determine the responsibilities of each and to lay the foundations for new practices guaranteeing transparency and independence in the EU decision-making process”.
Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, France) said that “the setting up of this special committee is good news for truth and transparency … We hope above all to make sensible proposals to address existing shortcomings and improve the system. The special committee puts an obligation on us to deliver a result”. Her EPP Group compatriot Angélique Delahaye said that the “committee is a political response to public concern” and she was pleased that “since all the issues relating to the marketing authorisation of pesticides are to be looked at, it will restore public confidence in the decision-making procedures”.
In a resolution passed in October of last year, Parliament said that the Monsanto papers revelations had cast doubt on the credibility of EU risk assessment and it called for European agencies to be granted greater means in future to enable them to carry out their own studies (see EUROPE 11890).
The European Commission has announced that it will legislate in March on the transparency of scientific assessments in the EU (see EUROPE 11924). The Parliamentary legal affairs committee is considering whether to bring an action for the annulment of the member states’ controversial decision to renew the authorisation of glyphosate for five years (see EUROPE 11922 and 11921). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)