Last week, the Court rejected a lawsuit by the environmental organization Antidote Europe against the European Commission. The organization sought to annul the ten-year extension of the approval granted in 2023. According to the judge, the Commission has sufficiently investigated the potential cancer risks.
The judges ruled that European regulators do not need to conclusively prove a substance is safe before its approval. The European Commission was allowed to rely on the previous scientific assessment. Two additional studies were disregarded for procedural reasons.
Bayer
Chemical company Bayer, producer of Roundup based on glyphosate, supported the Commission in the lawsuit. Antidote Europe must pay the Commission’s legal costs. The organization can still appeal. Meanwhile, EU countries may continue to impose national restrictions on the use of glyphosate, as France has done so far.
The ruling comes as Brussels aims to significantly simplify the approval of pesticides. The Commission proposes that most active substances will no longer be automatically re-examined following their initial approval. However, new scientific insights could still trigger a new assessment.
Scientists
Currently, after the first approval of up to ten years, a re-evaluation follows, after which new assessments take place every fifteen years. More than five hundred scientists warn that removing these controls poses risks to health and the environment. They call for independent research on the consequences first.
EU countries want to be less ambitious than the Commission and retain limited approval periods for most substances. The European Parliament has yet to decide. Committee votes on this matter are expected in early December, followed by a full Parliament vote in mid-December.
No Alternative
Proponents of easing restrictions point to years of delays in granting approval for new products. Biological alternatives are also becoming available only slowly as a result. Agricultural organizations fear higher costs and production issues if existing pesticides disappear before replacements are available.
Opponents highlight health risks for farm workers. Studies show links between exposure to certain pesticides and Parkinson’s disease. Only France, Germany, and Italy recognize this condition as an occupational disease. Trade unions want better protection, exposure registration, and possibilities for compensation.
Less Effect
Meanwhile, the Commission has temporarily extended the approval of 26 active substances because re-evaluations are still ongoing. Environmental protection also faces challenges in other agricultural measures: European subsidies for reducing nitrogen emissions yielded less than planned in various countries in 2023.
