This week, the Party for the Animals is trying to block a possible decision in the European Parliament on the extended admission of glyphosate in agriculture. The European Commission wants to allow its use for another ten years, although a majority of the European Parliament voted in 2017 that the drug should be banned.
Dutch MEP Anja Hazekamp has put a discussion about a glyphosate ban on the plenary agenda and is expected to ask for a ruling on it. Such an amendment could be voted on during the plenary meeting of October 16. That is a few days after the 27 EU countries first discuss the proposal, and possibly vote on it.
According to Hazekamp, research has shown that 63 percent of all Dutch people have glyphosate traces in their bodies. “No one benefits from a new ten-year permit for this poison, except the pesticide industry.”
During the last extension of authorization, in 2017, there was no majority in favor of a ban among the EU countries, partly because it had not been conclusively established that the drug is dangerous to humans and the environment. Therefore, a five-year period was agreed during which two EU bodies (ECHA and AFSA) would conduct further additional research. That would also give time to introduce alternatives.
Both authorities recently concluded that continued use is possible if additional measures are taken to prevent pesticides from leaching into surface waters. Other nozzles must also be used to prevent the material from blowing away.
A hard veto against the new glyphosate authorization can only be expressed by a qualified majority of EU countries (55 percent of the EU countries with a combined 65 percent of the population). A majority of the House of Representatives recently voted in favor of a motion by the Party for the Animals and GroenLinks that instructs the Dutch cabinet to vote against the new glyphosate authorization in Brussels. Other EU countries, including Germany and Austria, also advocate this.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, the use of glyphosate is prohibited for individuals, but not in agriculture and horticulture. In Portugal, its use in public spaces is prohibited. In the Czech Republic it has been restricted but not banned since 2019. Germany plans to ban glyphosate by the end of 2023.
It is known in the Netherlands that a majority of the House of Representatives is against, but that the outgoing Agriculture Minister Piet Adema has not yet taken a position: he is waiting for official technical advice from the Ctgb. He would inform the House about this before October 13.