France Parkinson calls on France to “vote against” the renewal of its authorization within the EU

The France Parkinson association calls on France to “vote against” the renewal of the authorization of glyphosate for ten years within the European Union. The 27 Member States must vote again on Thursday 16 November on this Commission proposal. “We really need to vote no so that we can open a real dialogue, real research on all the issues linked to glyphosate,” request on franceinfo Marie Fuzzati, scientific director at France Parkinson.

The association “pleading for the precautionary principle” because “there is no proof of the safety of glyphosate. On the contrary, there are many suspicions of its toxicity”, she explains. In a press release, France Parkinson “alert on the presumptions weighing on this herbicide and its supposed responsibility in Parkinson’s disease”. The association cites studies by epidemiologist Alexis Elbaz, research director at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, making a link between pesticide and Parkinson’s disease. They have “showed a higher prevalence of the disease in agricultural and wine-growing areas (risk multiplied by more than 2.5 among wine growers exposed to pesticides)”. The association emphasizes that in 2012, “France was the first country to recognize Parkinson’s disease as an occupational disease for farmers and wine growers exposed to pesticides.”

Additional studies needed

France Parkinson concedes that scientific studies “Further research remains necessary to add this molecule to the already long list of pesticides implicated in Parkinson’s disease.” However, “the simple fact that this correlation appears to be ‘biologically plausible’ should encourage our government to apply the precautionary principle and shed light on the existence of this link”, believes the association.

During a previous vote on October 13, the Member States of the European Union were unable to agree on the Commission’s proposal to extend the authorization of glyphosate until 2023. The qualified majority required for validate the text – i.e. 15 States out of 27, representing at least 65% of the European population – has not been achieved. “I hope that the countries will listen to the associations because it is Parkinson’s disease, but it is also cancer and many other pathologies, and I really hope that we will be listened to so that real studies are made on glyphosate”, Marie Fuzzati told franceinfo.