Biodiversity

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.

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Bee Red Flower
CC Heine Christiansen

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.

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Our fights, our values

What the Greens/EFA stand for

For 35 years, we have been making a difference and fighting to make Europe the global leader in terms of climate and environmental protection, peace and social justice, fair globalisation, and in the fight for human rights.

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Hemicycle European Parliament Strasbourg
European Union

What's coming up in Parliament

Strasbourg Flash - plenary session 22-25 October 2018

A look ahead to next week's session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Greens/EFA priority issues on the agenda

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Crops Sprayed
CC Chafer Machinery

A victory for food safety and the environment: ECJ ruling on new GMOs

GMOs

Today, the European Court of Justice ruled that organisms obtained by mutagenesis, otherwise known as "new breeding techniques" by the biotech industry, are in fact Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and are subject to the 2001 EU GMO Directive and all its obligations. Despite heavy lobbying by the industry looking for ways to circumvent the GMO Directive, the Court's ruling is a victory for European food safety and the environment.

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sunflower bee
Jenni Peterson

World Bee Day

Some tips to help bees every day

1) Replace pesticides Give up chemicals and insect poisons in your home and garden.  Replace these products with more environmentally and bee-friendly alternatives. Natural repellents (e.g. planting mint around cabbages to protect them from caterpillars) and predatory insects such as lady...

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plastic bottles
Image by Hans

New dawn for plastic management

Draft legislative proposal on plastics

Reaction from Greens/EFA MEP Margrete Auken to the leak of the European Commission's draft legislative proposal on plastics.

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Pesticide-Helicopter
CC0

Meat, animal feed and the EU's unbearable hypocrisy on GMOs

How GMOs enter the EU unnoticed

NGO Mighty Earth just published a powerful report on the dire consequences of the current EU meat, milk and eggs production system on those countries, especially in Latin America, which produce the feed for farm animals. deforestation, pollution, cancers, are the direct cause of EU’s letting genetically modified protein crops in for feeding our farm animals.

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bee flower
stefan steinbauer unsplash

Save the bees

Have your say by answering the consultation

The European Commission is collecting ideas and views on the decline of bees in order to develop an EU initiative on pollinators. This is the chance to play your part! Answer the consultation to save the bees!

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Five reasons not to allow the Bayer - Monsanto merger

Why the Commission should stop this "merger from hell"

In September 2016 Bayer and Monsanto announced their intention to merge. If authorised by the European Commission, this would create, in the Commission’s own words, “the world's largest integrated pesticides and seeds company”, and have devastating consequences. Join us in calling on Margrete Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, to stop this “merger from hell”!

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sunflower©elijah-hail
©elijah-hail

Greens/EFA Round up

Debriefing of the Strasbourg plenary week 11-14 December 2017

Greens/EFA priorities for the Strasbourg Plenary week included the adoption of the recommendations after the tax scandal of the Panama Papers; the Green report on European Strategy for low emission transport; Poland and the Bialowieza forest; another Green report on new legislation to regulate EU vessels outside EU waters; the EU summit and Brexit and migration; the Green objection to phosphate additives in kebabs

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notebook@oli-dale
@oli-dale

The Greens/EFA Co-Presidents' briefing

12.12.2017

LIVE press conference 12 December 2017 10:30-10:50

Greens/EFA co-presidents Ska Keller and Philippe Lamberts present the key issues of the plenary session and of the European agenda for the Greens/EFA group

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