Environment

We are all concerned about the air we breathe, the water we use and the food we eat.

First EU limits for heavy-duty vehicles vital to reduce pollution

CO2 emissions

Trucks and heavy goods vehicles will have to reduce their CO2 emissions by 15% by 2025, and by 30% by 2030, compared with 2019 levels. Thanks to the pressure of the European Parliament, the targets for 2030 are now legally binding. In 2022, the Commission will also have to propose post-2030 targets in line with the Paris Agreement.

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Greens/EFA Debriefing

Plenary week, 11-15 February 2019

Greens/EFA priorities for the plenary week included the EU-Singapore trade agreement, the protection of animals during transportation, the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, the debate on the Future of Europe with the Italian Prime Minister, the final trilogues on copyright and on the gas directive, ...

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CC BY-NC 2.0 Rainforest Action Network/ Flickr

Palm oil

Quote Bas Eickhout

"The battle is not over, the proposal is under consultation for the next four weeks so we, along with civil society and the public, still have time to close these loopholes and clamp down on destructive palm oil entering the EU. Green victories never come without a fight." Bas Eickhout, Greens/EFA rapporteur on the file and leading candidate of the European Green Party in the European elections

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Forests at the heart of Sustainable Development

07.02.2019

High-level conference

    This conference has been organized under the auspices of the European Parliamentary Alliance on the Fight against Hunger. Opening remarks: MEP Benedek Jávor (The Greens / EFA)   Opening keynotes: Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environme...

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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.

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Glyphosate renewal rife with chemical industry influence - new findings

Public health/Glyphosate

Today, Bart Staes, Greens/EFA MEP and co-rapporteur for the PEST Committee on the EU pesticide authorisation procedure, together with colleagues from other groups, present damning new evidence on the chemical industry's involvement in the procedure for renewing the authorisation of the dangerous substance glyphosate.

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Image by Hans

EU bans single use plastics in an early Christmas present for the planet

Plastic

Today's agreement to ban certain single use plastics is an early Christmas present for the planet and our future on it. With every plastic bottle that washes up on a beach and each bird that chokes to death on our plastic waste, the need to act on plastic pollution is ever more pertinent.

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Ruben de Rijcke (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Parliament is the driving force behind stronger reductions on CO2 emissions for cars

CO2 emissions

"The kind of effort showed by EU governments is the equivalent of switching from fifth to fourth gear while keeping your foot on the accelerator; it'll slow you down a little but it won't stop the car from crashing. Yet, despite reluctance from the capitals, the European Parliament has proven that it is the only institution in the driving seat on the road to reaching the Paris climate goals.", said Bas Eickhout

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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 ...

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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

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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.

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Time for stricter testing around pesticide authorisation

PEST final report

The final report calls on EU governments and the European Commission to step up environmental and health assessments of pesticides and pesticide active substances, to ensure that no conflicts of interest affect the authorisation procedure and to make risk assessments transparent. The product glyphosate will be tested for cancer risks. MEPs will vote on the final report in the plenary session of the European Parliament in January.

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