Brussels allows use of glyphosate across EU for 10 more years after member states fail to reach deal
The European Commission announced on Thursday that it is approving the use of the controversial chemical substance glyphosate across the European Union for another decade after member states failed to reach an agreement.
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00:00 The authorization of glyphosate in the European Union will be extended for 10 years.
00:09 This is the result of the political impasse in which the member states find themselves.
00:14 Once again, the 27 governments failed to reach a qualified majority on Thursday to approve or reject the proposal.
00:21 The Commission, which had already announced that it would continue the process of extending the life of this controversial substance in weed killers,
00:29 therefore had the final say.
00:32 The Commission has the legal obligation to take a decision,
00:39 and this decision that we will take is based on the scientific analysis that we got from EFSA, ETSA, and the scientific community,
00:47 and which will lead, indeed, to a renewal of the glyphosate.
00:52 The Commission's proposal follows the study published by the European Food Safety Authority in July.
00:58 It came to the conclusion that there are no unacceptable risks to humans, animals, or the environment that would justify a ban on glyphosate.
01:07 In the European Parliament, the Greens are denouncing this argument.
01:12 This proposal to renew glyphosate is dramatic for human health.
01:18 We have a growing number of victims who are sick with cancer, with deformities, from an early age, but also for the living.
01:24 We have many studies that show the devastating effect on the biodiversity of glyphosate.
01:29 So, Europe has a choice. Either it poisons or it protects.
01:33 And by this vote, the abstention, the Member States, which had the means to prevent this proposal,
01:38 have contributed to this degradation of health, to this devastation of nature.
01:43 They are hiding behind their abstention today, claiming that they were opposed, since they abstained,
01:50 so they did not give a blank check to the European Commission. This is completely hypocritical.
01:54 The Commission pointed out that the Member States are responsible for the use of glyphosate at national levels.
02:01 Governments can therefore restrict the use of this product within their borders, if they so wish.
02:08 [Sound of a plane taking off]
02:15 (whooshing)