EU Parliament environmental committee narrowly votes down resolution to ban glyphosate.

A proposed resolution calling for the complete ban of the widely used pesticide glyphosate was Tuesday, the 24^th of October, voted down in the European Parliament’s environmental committee. 40 members of the committee voted against the proposal, 38 for and six abstained.

Bas Eickhout, Green/EFA (Left), at The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Photo © Eric VIDAL, European Union 2023

By Oskar Hammer Sylvestersen and Jack Wilson

The resolution to ban glyphosate was proposed by the Greens, Socialists and Democrats and the Left and followed a recent vote in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, where member states failed to agree on the European Commission’s proposed 10-year renewal for the use of glyphosate.

While the resolution in the parliament committee had no binding legal ramification, it would have sent a strong message to member states and the Commission.

Bas Eickhout MEP, Greens/EFA and Vice Chair of the Environmental Committee had the following to say in a press release after the vote: 

“The ENVI committee today failed to take the only responsible decision and call for a complete ban of the use of glyphosate. Big agri’s [agricultural] lobby has won at the expense of  farmers’ health and the health of our ecosystems. Allowing glyphosate to be reauthorised would be like giving big agri [agricultural] a blank check to earn billions by selling a pesticide for which there are still big gaps in knowledge about the long term effects on our health, and at the same time poses large risks for European biodiversity.”

On the opposite end of the argument is Erik Poulsen, MEP and negotiator on glyphosate for the Renew Europe (Liberal) party group, who had this to say about the vote:

“It was expected, but important, that the resolution was voted down. Glyphosate is one of the world’s most important plant protection products that secures good and safe food production. It’s also probably one of the most researched chemicals in the world … and the EU’s own environmental institutions have clearly rejected that is dangerous for the environment, human health or our groundwater.”

While the two sides are still in disagreement about the use of glyphosate, the committee did agree on a proposal to reduce the overall use and risk of pesticides in general by 50% by 2030. The proposal represents a minor compromise on the pesticide debate in the EU.