MEPs representing ‘Green’ and environmental parties will call on European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen to intervene, and stop the renewal of the herbicide glyphosate.
The commission confirmed this morning (Thursday, November 16) that it will adopt a regulation that renews approval of glyphosate for plant protection purposes for 10 years in the EU.
EU member states did not reach the required qualified majority to either renew, or reject the approval of glyphosate during a vote today (Thursday, November 16).
This follows on from an earlier vote in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) on October 13, in which member states also did not reach the required majority to renew or reject approval.
In line with EU legislation and in the absence of the required majority in either direction, the commission is obliged to make a decision before December 15, when the current approval period expires.
The commission will now proceed with the renewal of the approval of glyphosate for a period of 10 years, subject to certain new conditions and restrictions.
Despite this, Green MEPs are calling on President von der Leyen to personally intervene and prevent the renewal from going ahead.
Irish Green Party MEP Grace O’ Sullivan said that her party, and other parties across the EU with Green or environmental platforms, have campaigned for glyphosate to be banned, saying that some reports “show the impact of glyphosate on human health and biodiversity”.
“This weedkiller is being spread around school grounds, roads and communities all around Ireland, and it is having an impact on human health and nature,” O’Sullivan claimed.
According to O’Sullivan, the “entire commission case” fore renewing glyphosate was based on a report that, while finding “no critical area of concern” on renewing approval for glyphosate, also suggested that there was “high long term risk to mammals in a majority of cases”.
O’Sullivan also claimed that the commission “failed to take any biodiversity considerations into mind at a time of collapsing pollinator populations”.
“These are critical areas of concern if you ask me. The reservations of many member state governments in approving this weedkiller are clear… Somewhere down the line glyphosate will be banned once and for all,” she added.
While Green politicians have expressed disappointment with the commission’s move, farm groups have welcomed it.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that the decision by the commission is a “very positive development for Irish and EU agriculture”.
“Access to glyphosate products is critical for Irish and EU tillage farmers, particularly with an ever-increasing focus on reducing emissions from agriculture,” IFA national grain chairperson Kieran McEvoy said.
“Increased utilisation of cover crops; greater use of multi-species swards in grassland; and reduced tillage establishment methods are simply not possible without glyphosate herbicides,” he claimed.
Copa Cogeca, the umbrella group of EU farming bodies and agri-cooperatives, said that, currently, there is no equivalent alternative to herbicide, and without it, many agricultural practices, notably soil conservation, would be “rendered complex, leaving farmers with either no solutions or with alternatives that consume even more herbicides”.