The European Parliament adopted by 355 votes to 204, with 11 abstentions, a resolution on the draft Commission implementing regulation renewing the approval of the active substance glyphosate in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, and amending the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011.

The resolution was tabled by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

Glyphosate currently has the highest global production volume of all herbicides; 76 % of the use of glyphosate worldwide is in agriculture and it is also widely used in forestry, urban and garden applications.

The draft Commission implementing regulation, based on a scientific evaluation conducted by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) proposes authorising glyphosate until 15 December 2027, i.e. for 10 years ; it would apply from 16 December 2017.

Parliament considers that the Commission’s draft implementing regulation fails to ensure a high level of protection of both human and animal health and the environment and fails to apply the precautionary principle.

It called on the Commission to withdraw the draft implementing regulation and submit a new one.

Members called on the Commission and the Member States:

neither to approve any non-professional uses of glyphosate, nor to approve any uses of glyphosate in or close to public parks, public playgrounds or public gardens after 15 December 2017 ; not to approve any agricultural uses of glyphosate after 15 December 2017 where integrated pest management systems are sufficient for the necessary weed control.

The Commission is called upon to adopt necessary measures to phase out the active substance glyphosate in the European Union no later than 15 December 2022 , ensuring that no use of glyphosate is authorised after that date.

In support of their objection, Members stated that in March 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ while the EFSA concluded that there was no evidence to link glyphosate to cancer in humans based on available information.

In addition, in the context of litigation in the US brought by plaintiffs who claim to have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the court unsealed internal documents by Monsanto , the owner and producer of Roundup, a product whose active substance is glyphosate. The released correspondence cast doubts on the credibility of some studies which were among the evidence used by EFSA and ECHA.

Parliament called on the Commission and the Member States to:

ensure that the scientific evaluation of pesticides for EU regulatory approval is based only on published peer-reviewed and independent studies commissioned by competent public authorities; ensure sufficient testing and monitoring of glyphosate residues in feed, food and drinks produced in, as well as imported into, the Union; finance research and innovation with regard to sustainable and cost-efficient solutions for pest-management products, propose adequate transitional measures for the agricultural sector and to publish a guidance document outlining all possible safer, low-risk alternatives.