Germany wants glyphosate to be abandoned in the EU and warns of the risk of heterogeneous regulations following the European Commission’s proposal this week to renew the authorization of this herbicide for ten years.
“In the context of threats to biodiversity, the German government has called for a European exit from glyphosate and has warned against heterogeneous levels of protection in the EU,” the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday evening. 27 member states to examine the European executive’s proposal.
The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to renew the authorization of glyphosate in the EU for ten years, under conditions, after a report from a regulator estimated that the level of risk did not justify the ban of this controversial herbicide. Member states will have to decide by qualified majority during a vote on October 13.
“There are no harmonized rules”
For Germany, the authorization of glyphosate must end “as long as damage to biodiversity, the basis of sustainable agriculture, cannot be excluded.” Furthermore, Berlin emphasizes, the Commission proposal provides for more precise provisions for a new authorisation. “But they are only partially binding on Member States and therefore there would be no harmonized rules.”
The coalition contract signed at the end of 2021 by the Social Democrats (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Greens, who hold the Agriculture portfolio, and the Liberals (FDP) stipulates that glyphosate “will be withdrawn from the market at the end of 2021″ . 2023” in Germany. In principle, the country should vote, on October 13, against the renewal of the EU authorization of this herbicide.
However, several elected officials of the Liberal Party spoke out against total abandonment. The Commission’s proposal is based on a scientific assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Glyphosate, the active substance in the famous Monsanto Roundup – bought by the German company Bayer in 2018 -, widely used around the world, was classified in 2015 as “probable carcinogen” for humans by the International Cancer Research Center of the world. Health Organization.
Source: BFM TV
