After years of deadlock and political nightmares, are we finally ready to change the discussion on GMOs?

What care ethics can bring to the conversation

Today, the European Parliament backed four objections against the authorisation for import of new GM plants into the EU, bringing the total number of such objections to 31 in just over three years. Nevertheless, the European Commission decided to override this opposition and to authorize 24 of them. Why and how did we end up in this political stand-off? And, more importantly, how do we get out of this situation? A team of researchers may have opened a path with the publication of several studies on the Politics of Care and how it could be used to assess emerging technologies.

Our achievements in the European Parliament 2014-2019

Greens/EFA successes

The Greens/EFA are a driving force in European politics. Our Group makes a difference in the European Parliament. Discover the overview of our achievements during the legislative period.

Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 10-14 December 2018

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included humanitarian visas, conflict of interest of Czech Prime Minister, transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain, the digital service tax, the revocability of Art 50 ...

Parliament calls for more transparency on the authorisation of pesticides and additives in the food chain

Food law

Members of the European Parliament voted in favour of greater transparency around the authorisation of pesticides, GMOs and additives in the food chain. "We cannot rely on the industry to judge whether its own products are harmful. We need more scrutiny by independent scientists", declared Bart Staes, Greens/EFA group spokesperson on pesticides

The “innovation principle” is a regulatory Trojan horse from the industry

How a group of industries with problematic products are trying to weaken the precautionary principle

Few words carry a more positive image than “innovation”: solving humanities’ problems, bringing comfort, relief and fun. So why the hell are the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament opposing the introduction of the so-called “innovation principle” in the Horizon Europe Regulation, which will be setting the terms for the next 160 billion euro EU research funding programme? Because this is in reality an industry stunt to hinder the precautionary principle, and the EU citizens' safety. Here is how.

What's coming up in Parliament

A look ahead to the December plenary session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

A new EU law for more transparency in the food chain

No more dirty secrets in the authorisation procedure for pesticides, GMOs, food additives and novel food!

Democracy and science have in common the fact that they cannot be properly carried out in the dark: both require transparency. The altercation around the reauthorisation of the herbicide glyphosate in 2017 shed an uncomfortable light on the opacity of both the assessment process and the authorisation process of pesticides in the EU. The Commission's imperfect attempt to make the situation better will be debated and voted on next week in the European Parliament, under strong industry lobby pressure.

Into the spoon

Can a business be socially and environmentally responsible while being economically profitable? Into the Spoon is a perfect example of how this can be achieved. Watch this video and get to know some of the people who are making the just and Green transition happen!

Greens/EFA take European Parliament to court over animal welfare conditions

Animal Transport

The Greens/EFA group is taking the European Parliament to the European Court of Justice for having blocked the setting up of a committee of inquiry into the conditions around animal transport.

Innovation in the agri-food sector

08.11.2018

For and by the people!

Sustainable, eco-responsible innovations exist in the agriculture and food sector and are producing amazing results. While answering the demands of civil society concerning the environment, they are economically sound and solve the real problems of their users instead of creating new needs. These innovations come partly from scientists, but also from participative forms of research involving stakeholders and citizens.

Our hair, testimony of our overall exposure to pesticide residues

Pesticides

Environmentalists in the European Parliament are launching a campaign on pesticide contamination. They used an independent institute that performed capillary tests for 30 pesticides reported as endocrine disruptors. Results: The laboratory detected one or more of these 30 pesticides for two thirds of the samples.

Austrian government using Orban's playbook

Civil society space

The Austrian government wants to exclude environmental organisations from environmental impact assessments. The amendment to the Environmental Impact Assessment Act will be put to the vote tomorrow (Thursday, 25 October) in the Austrian National Council.