(09 November 2017) – After the missed agreement on glyphosate renewal on October 25 and the new proposal by the European Commission to reduce the period of the renewal from 10 to 5 years, Member States have voted today: no agreement was reached.
The European Commission has announced it will submit the same proposal to the Appeal Committee (a higher-level meeting of governments) on November 27. EU governments will once again have the chance to put a stop once and for all to this toxic substance. Today’s vote again indicates a strong reluctance on the part of governments to re-authorize glyphosate.
The European Parliament has confirmed that the organisers of the “Stop Glyphosate” European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) will have the opportunity to present the citizens’ initiative (which collected 1.070.865 signatures) at a public hearing, which will take place on November 20, 2017.
The Commission shall set out in a Communication its legal and political conclusions on the citizens’ initiative, the action it intends to take, if any, and its reasons for taking or not taking that action within three months of the submission date, i.e. by 8 January 2018. As of today, however, no ECI has ever succeeded in its intent. (Slow Food)