*[Enwl-eng] BIG NEWS: The end for glyphosate
ENWLine
Will you help us achieve a global revolution in the food chain? We're almost there, but we need your help. Thanks to the determination of each and every one of us, glyphosate could soon be banned for good. |
Hi,
Just last week the European Parliament voted on strong new legislation to increase transparency in our food, and to provide secret industry safety studies to the public! [1] Finally independent scientists will be able to scrutinise the studies before EU approval is granted.
This legislation didn’t come about by itself - it’s a direct response from the EU Commission to our European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate. Thanks to the efforts of every one of us in this community and our partners, we’re now on the cusp of a global food revolution.
But it’s not final yet, the last stage of this process is an agreement to be negotiated early next year. And there’s not much time, because European elections are coming up quickly. [2]
That’s why I’m asking for your support right now. None of us alone would have the power to fight back against the pesticide industry, but together we’ve beaten them and made our politicians listen to the public interest, not corporate interests.
Small, regular donations are what enabled our community to constantly put pressure where it was needed most along the way and allow us to act fast. Whether it’s to commission the best independent scientists to check Bayer’s dodgy “science”, organise a last-minute big media stunt or organise mass actions targeting decision makers.
| Yes, I’ll donate €8 a month |
| Yes, I’ll donate €15 a month |
| Yes, I’ll donate €30 a month |
| Yes, I’ll surprise you! |
Our community has been fighting against the likes of Monsanto, Bayer, and the pesticides industry since we were founded just three short years ago. We got the attention of the EU institutions and we roused an EU-wide public debate on glyphosate and pesticides, but the EU granted glyphosate’s license an emergency extension. [3]
So in 2017, our community and partners decided to ramp-up the pressure and launch an official “European Citizens’ Initiative” (ECI) to ban glyphosate. We collected the required 1,000,000 signatures in record time.
Together, our community and partners made the difference between glyphosate being granted the 15-year license that industry wanted, and the 5-year license they got. Our media stunts, phone calls and emails to national ministers held weight, and together we proved that our people-power was stronger than the corporate lobby.
But that wasn’t all -- in an official response to our ECI, the EU Commission proposed this major change to EU General Food Law, to increase transparency in the food chain. [4, 5] And when corporate interests and the pesticide industry threatened to prevent more transparency, our community sprang into action again: we emailed our MEPs and signed a petition calling for precisely what industry fears most - transparency. This helped us win the vote last week, but only by a small margin.
Thanks to our community, our politicians heard our calls with polls, through the media, and in-person outside their offices. But to run such campaigns requires us to be able to react at the drop of hat and we can only do that thanks to regular donations. Will you help?
| Yes, I’ll donate €8 a month |
| Yes, I’ll donate €15 a month |
| Yes, I’ll donate €30 a month |
| Yes, I’ll surprise you! |
Today we should all feel encouraged, hopeful, and looking towards a global revolution in the food chain.
Thank you for being there at every stage in this struggle,
Mika
(Bordeaux), Virginia (Madrid), Jörg (Lübeck) and the whole team at
WeMove.EU
PS: Regular donors sustain our movement and give our community the independence and flexibility to put our resources where they matter most. Please chip in a small regular donation to help us get all the way there, so we can continue moving Europe together.
References:
[1]
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20181205IPR20935/food-safety-more-transparency-better-risk-prevention
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/meps-ready-to-negotiate-efsas-transparency-rule-but-need-to-find-a-new-negotiator/
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2018-0489+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN
[2]
The Parliament will now begin negotiations with the EU Council in what is known
as “trilogues,” because all three EU institutions take part and negotiate for
the final law to be voted on by the Parliament. But there is very little time
for these meetings to occur before Parliament’s last session before the 2019
European elections.
[3]
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/29/controversial-chemical-roundup-weedkiller-escapes-immediate-ban
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/commission-prolongs-glyphosate-licence-by-18-months/
[4]
http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative/public/initiatives/successful/details/follow-up/2017/000002/en?lg=en
[5]
The Parliament also launched a committee on pesticides to review the EU approval
procedures:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/pest/home.html Monsanto
lobbyists were also banned from the European Parliament:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/monsanto-lobbyists-barred-from-european-parliament/
WeMove.EU is a citizens’ movement, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere.
WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy
------------- * ENWL * ------------
Ecological North West Line * St. Petersburg, Russia
Independent Environmental Net Service
Russian: ENWL (North West), ENWL-inf (FSU), ENWL-misc (any topics)
English: ENWL-eng (world information)
Send information to en...@lew.spb.org, enwl...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org, en...@lew.spb.org
Subscription, Moderator: vf...@lew.spb.org or en...@enw.net.ru
Archive: http://groups.google.com/group/enwl/
Additionally: http://www.enwl.net.ru/
(C) Please refer to exclusive articles of ENWL
-------------------------------------