Interests of environment, consumers and agriculture reconciled, immediately ban pre-harvest use


The European Parliament has proposed a compromise regarding the controversial pesticide glyphosate. On Tuesday the delegates voted with a big majority to allow the use of the pesticide only for the next five years, but under very strict restrictions. Especially the pre-harvest use, which is already forbidden in several European Member States, shall be forbidden all over in Europe.

The vote is legally not binding, but leads the way for the meeting of the Regulatroy Committee, that is composed of representatives of the EU Member States and the European Commission. This body will discuss this topic on Wednesday. “Even in a tough situation and regarding controversial subjects like the given one, the Parliament shows that it is possible to find reasonable compromises. An immediate ban of glyphosate is in my opinion not justified, because in this moment there are no acceptable alternatives to it. In the worst case a cocktail of several more problematic substances would be used, because it is not possible to shift the European agriculture in such a short period of time towards organic cultivation. Therefore we need time and during this period of time alternatives must be developed. Nevertheless, we think that the Commission proposal can be improved by several conditions. I find it unbearable that in some countries Glyphosate is still used directly before crop harvesting for weed control. From my point of view this is not sustainable agriculture.”