Glyphosate: Slow Food asks EU Member States to take a stand against the European Commission 10-year renewal proposal

On 20 July 2017 the Commission restarted discussions with Member States on the possible renewal of license to use glyphosate for another 10 years.

The Commission will look for the support of a qualified majority of Member States, and EU governments will be invited to vote on this proposal after the summer. Based on the outcome, the Commission will take a final decision before the end of the year, when the current EU glyphosate license expires.

Slow Food calls to EU Member States to vote against the renewal of the glyphosate license recommended by the European Commission. It is important that the Commission does not reach a qualified majority.

EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has made reference to two EU agencies, the ECHA & the EFSA, saying that there was “no ground to classify glyphosate as carcinogenic.” It should be stressed, however, that in 2015 the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic for humans’ and France’s leading newspaper Le Monde launched an investigative series on Monsanto, showing in extensive detail how the company has systematically sought to discredit, intimidate and silence any organization determined to show different results on the health hazards of glyphosate, including the IARC.

Furthermore, over 1,300,000 European citizens have called for a total ban on glyphosate. On 3 July, the Stop Glyphosate coalition officially submitted 1,320,517 signatures to 28 national European authorities. This is a clear signal of European public opinion.

Slow Food calls on the European Commission to meet the demands of European citizens. We cannot accept 10 more years of glyphosate use in the European Union. European citizens ask to be heard in the name of democracy and the protection of the public interest. The health and the environment cannot and must not be subject to the interests of multinational agro-industrial companies.