Health

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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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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Car emissions — 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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EU-wide class action law suits will hold companies to account

Consumer rights

Today, the majority of the members of the Legal Affairs Committee today voted in favour of greater consumer protection and for the possibility of EU-wide class action law suits. Representative entities, such as consumer organisations, will be able to bring collective redress before the courts if infringements affect people in several EU countries.

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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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Greens/EFA demand debate on medical devices

Implant files

The "Implant Files", a cross-border investigation by journalists into how medical devices on the EU market, such as pacemakers, artificial hips and contraceptives, which may have caused pain, injury or even death among patients, must be debated by the European Parliament, according to the Greens/EFA group.

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Trucks on highway — Creative Commons CC0

Driving down emissions from trucks

CO2/trucks and heavy duty vehicles

The European Parliament voted in favour of Greens/EFA rapporteur Bas Eickhout's proposed changes to the European Commission's regulation on "CO2 emission standards for new heavy-duty vehicles", which would see substantial reductions in CO2 emissions from trucks and heavy goods vehicles.

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