Parliament will demand drastic amendments

"The European Commission's proposal on the re-approval of the controversial plant protection product glyphosate does no longer have any chance". This declared the health policy spokesman of the biggest political group in the European Parliament (EPP), Dr Peter Liese. The European Parliament will vote on this question next week. "There are still different opinions among the political groups. Some are in favour of an immediate ban. Our Christian democratic group declares itself in favour of a temporally limited renewal of the authorisation under strict conditions. Thus, as the proposal is also highly controversial among Member States and could not find a majority there, the Commission's initial proposal is politically dead. Besides, the responsible Commissioner for Health Andriukaitis announced that he will not act against political majorities in both institutions, the Parliament and the Council. The Christian democrats speak out against an immediate prohibition.  They acknowledge that glyphosate is a problematical substance; however they do not want to run the risk that, in the case of its prohibition, glyphosate will be substituted by even more poisonous substances. "We therefore need a prudent strategy. We want to prohibit, in particular, the pre-harvest use of glyphosate on crops to determine the date of harvesting as well as its use just before the harvest aiming at making the use of harvesting machines easier. In Germany, these particular treatments have been prohibited for a couple of years already. If the pesticide is used just before harvest, the danger of residues on food is of course much higher than when using it earlier". Furthermore, the 15-year authorisation should be shortened and the Commission is asked to prohibit dangerous co-formulants as soon as possible.