“It would have been irresponsible to completely ban” the herbicide, says an MEP

“It would have been irresponsible for the European Commission to completely ban glyphosate,” said Thursday, November 16 on franceinfo Anne Sander, MEP from the European People’s Party group. The elected official reacts to the extension of the authorization of glyphosate for ten additional years decided by the European Commission on Thursday.

“The question should not be for or against glyphosate, but it is the way in which we use it,” assures Anne Sander. For her, “we need glyphosate, in a controlled manner, to ensure our food security”and to quote “The War in Ukraine”, or even the “climate change”.

“Indeed, there are risks”

The MEP calls for alternatives to be found quickly. “The sooner we have affordable replacement substances, the sooner we can do without glyphosate”, she emphasizes. For this, we must not hesitate to “focus on new technologies, new genomic techniques. These are voices that must be explored.”

On the dangerousness of glyphosate, Anne Sander justifies herself by ensuring that she does not say “that glyphosate has a level of danger which is zero, indeed there are risks”. However, she gets over it “to science and in particular to the studies which have been carried out by the European Agency, which says that given the risks known today, we believe that its use can be authorized under conditions”.