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You’ve signed our petition to ban glyphosate in Austria. Now it’s time to fight back against Bayer-Monsanto’s powerful lobbyists who want to strike down the ban. [1]

Austria is set to become the first EU country to completely ban glyphosate. [2] But before the ban can come into effect, it needs to be upheld by the EU Commission. Bayer-Monsanto is piling on the pressure to convince our representatives to prevent the ban.

If we join together across Europe in support of the ban, our voices can eclipse those of Bayer’s lobbyists. Thousands of us who have been, or will be threatened by the poisonous weed killer now have the chance to make ourselves heard and convince those in power to ban glyphosate.

But we don’t have much time - the Commission is only accepting public comments until Friday! Let’s make sure they hear our message, let's prove that our people power is stronger than the corporate lobby. Just click below to fill out a simple form and we will send the comment on your behalf.

Email the EU Commission to demand a glyphosate-free and safer future for Europe

The European Commission has always said that EU countries can ban glyphosate within their own borders. But, of course, Bayer-Monsanto doesn’t care: they’ve even come out publicly saying that they expect the European Commission to strike down Austria’s ban on glyphosate. [3]

While the pesticide industry and giants like Bayer-Monsanto continue to maintain that glyphosate is safe, scientific evidence of glyphosate’s carcinogenic effect is increasing. A review of existing studies from the University of Washington found that exposure to glyphosate increases the risk of cancer by 41 percent. [4] They noted that a “compelling link” exists between exposure to glyphosate and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

It’s no surprise that Austria’s parliament recently voted to ban glyphosate and that the German government announced it would start a gradual phasing out of the chemical. [5] The only opponents to the ban are Bayer-Monsanto, the glyphosate industry, and their lobbyists, who claim it contravenes EU procedures.

Their argument that Austria’s ban is “inconsistent with mandatory legal and procedural requirements” is fanciful given that, after a public outcry following the EU re-approval of glyphosate in 2017, the Commission assured national governments that they would be able to make their own decisions on glyphosate. [6]

Together we need to stop Bayer-Monsanto from blocking a ban on glyphosate in Austria. And all we need to do is remind the EU Commission of their own words! Let’s write to the Commission to make sure they protect our food safety, and ask its members - our representatives - to respect all EU countries’ right to ban pesticides.

Ensure people-power wins over the corporate lobby: write to the EU to protect our food safety

In the past, together we’ve proven that our people power can make a difference on glyphosate. In 2017, thanks to our campaigning with our NGO partners, the EU only granted a 5-year license to glyphosate and not the 15-year license that the industry wanted. [7] That year we launched an official European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which gathered over 1 million signatures in favour of banning glyphosate. And as a direct response to our ECI, the EU changed the law so that formerly secret industry safety studies must be shown to the public! [8]

Write to the EU now and support Austria’s ban. If the ban is upheld, we’ll be closer than ever to an EU-wide ban and a glyphosate-free and safer future for all of Europe.

With determination,

David, Giulio (Rome), Virginia (Madrid), and the entire WeMove Europe team

References
[1] The German pharmaceutical giant Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 for USD 63 billion and is working on integrating the two companies into Bayer.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-07/bayer-closes-monsanto-deal-to-cap-63-billion-transformation
https://www.bayer.com/en/monsanto-acquisition.aspx
[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-glyphosate/austrian-parliament-backs-eus-first-total-ban-of-weedkiller-glyphosate-idUSKCN1TX1JR
https://www.dw.com/en/austrian-parliament-votes-to-ban-glyphosate-weedkiller/a-49450418
[3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/austrian-herbicide-ban-adds-to-problems-for-roundup-owner-bayer-11562087770
[4] https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/us-glyphosate-cancer-study-scli-intl/index.html
[5] http://en.rfi.fr/environment/20190904-germany-moves-ban-glyphosate-weed-killer-pesticide-insects-cancer
[6] https://www.wsj.com/articles/austrian-herbicide-ban-adds-to-problems-for-roundup-owner-bayer-11562087770
[7] https://euobserver.com/environment/140042
[8] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20181205IPR20935/food-safety-more-transparency-better-risk-prevention
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/meps-ready-to-negotiate-efsas-transparency-rule-but-need-to-find-a-new-negotiator/
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2018-0489+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN