European Parliament in favour of compromise on glyphosate as proposed by the EPP Group

A clear majority of the European Parliament today voted in favour of a compromise on the controversial plant protection product glyphosate. MEPs dismissed the initial European Commission proposal calling for a renewal of another 15 years without substantial conditions.

"We are in favour of a temporarily limited renewal, but above all, we want much stricter conditions than those foreseen by the Commission. In my opinion, it is absurd that in many European countries, glyphosate is still used in order to optimise the date of harvesting or in order to kill the cultivated plant just before harvest, making the use of harvesting machines easier. In some countries, this has already been prohibited for a couple of years and this should also be the case in Europe", said Peter Liese MEP, EPP Group Spokesman in the Environment Committee.

In addition, MEPs want to prohibit or at least limit the use of glyphosate in the private sector and on public grounds, as well as to take more co-formulants than the co-formulant POE-Tallowamine, whose ban is already planned by the Commission, off the market.

"I am sure that the Parliament's vote will have a concrete impact. The representatives of the Member States could not agree on a position and the Commission does not want to take a decision without the political support of the other two Institutions. The Commission has to strongly improve its original proposal and we are quite confident that the Member States' agreement will be very close to the European Parliament's position. This is a balanced compromise which takes into account the unresolved scientific situation and scientific uncertainty and the fact that there are no alternatives to glyphosate", declared Angélique Delahaye MEP, EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur.