“France could have had the courage to vote against,” points out Laurence Marandola.
“It’s a monumental error,” reacted Thursday, November 16 on franceinfo Laurence Marandola, spokesperson for the Confédération paysanne, after the European Commission announced that it was renewing the authorization of glyphosate within the European Union for ten years. It decided this Thursday, due to lack of agreement between the 27 member states. Like last October 13, the second vote organized in the morning did not result in a majority for or against.
The spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation regrets the “half-fig, half-grape position” from France which once again abstained. “France could have had the courage to vote against”estimates Laurence Marandola.
She repeats that the European Commission is “a mistake” by renewing the approval of glyphosate because “this allows us to continue to believe that using this herbicide has no consequences”. Gold, “this is not the case for the health of the farmers who spread this product, it is not the case for the health of consumers and it is not the case for the health of the soil and water in our country”lists the spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation.
“Ten years is colossal for our health and our environment.”
Laurence Marandola, spokesperson for the Peasant Confederationat franceinfo
According to Laurence Marandola, this refers “to the Greek calendars the possibilities of considering real changes in practices and in agricultural operations”. She recalls that her union is “for the immediate end of all the most dangerous pesticides including glyphosate and for an accompanied exit for the least dangerous”. She “hears the speech” from certain agricultural unions such as the FNSEA which assure that the ban on glyphosate would put many farms in difficulty because there is no alternative. The spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation would like to emphasize “that not all French agriculture uses” this herbicide but “certain very specific productions: cereals, field crops and viticulture”.
To the detriment of the health of farmers
She says alternatives exist. At least, “if we looked for it, we would find it” but “we refrain from activating the search for solutions”. Laurence Marandola asks “a real public policy” in this sense because “Somewhere, pesticide manufacturers are being given the responsibility of finding alternatives. It’s absurd.” She also calls on the government to “give ourselves the means to properly support farmers” for an exit from synthetic pesticides. The spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation “wants to recall the commitment” by Emmanuel Macron in 2017. “I asked the government to take the necessary measures so that the use of glyphosate is banned in France within three years at the latest,” the President of the Republic wrote on Twitter (henceforth X).
In its press release, the European Commission specifies that it “will now proceed to renew the approval of glyphosate for a period of ten years, subject to certain new conditions and restrictions.” However, the spokesperson for the Peasant Confederation believes that “it remains scandalous.” Laurence Marandola maintains that glyphosate contains “extremely dangerous molecules”. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as “probable carcinogen”. “I can testify: I think that there is not a farmer in this country who does not have colleagues, neighbors, family members who suffer from the consequences of the use of pesticides”she protests.