Environmental associations complain: Glyphosate approval in the EU under fire!

Environmental associations complain: Glyphosate approval in the EU under fire!

A dramatic exchange of blows between environmental associations and the European Commission unfolds before the European Court of Justice: Several organizations, including Global 2000 and the Pesticide Action Network Europe, have filed a lawsuit against the controversial approval of the staggering agent Glyphosate. The lawsuit is intended to overcome the EU's decision to approve the use of glyphosate for another ten years at the end of 2023. "The EU Commission has excluded critical studies on glyphosate unfounded in its evaluation or systematically reduced their results," criticized Helmut Burtscher damage, environmental chemist from Global 2000, while the environmental scientist Angeliki Lysimachou described the decision as a violation of scientific standards.

The lawsuit of the nature conservation organizations emphasizes that the authority has ignored "significant uncertainties and gaps in knowledge" with regard to the health -damaging effects of glyphosate. They pointed out the lack of independence of the European instances. These have declared glyphosate, a active ingredient in criticism for years, despite the health concerns. While the World Health Organization in 2015 classified herbicide as "probably carcinogenic", the assessments of the European authorities were classified as little transparent and incorrect. As a result of these disagreements, trust in the EU's approval processes is heavily scratched.

The lawsuit is directed against the decision of the Commission, which, according to the associations, does not adhere to international standards and exposes people in Europe to an avoidable risk. Greenpeace and other environmental organizations have long protested against the use of glyphosate because the active ingredient can significantly endanger the environment. This conflict is thus a decisive turning point in the so-called David-against-Goliath fight between industry and environmentalists when it comes to the fate of one of the most frequently used pesticides, reported Deutschlandfunk.