Glyphosate: Democracy 0 - Lobbyists 1

Glyphosate: Democracy 0 – Lobbyists 1

As we predicted right after the European Parliament voted not to renew glyphosate’s licence in Europe, the European Member States have now ignored all democratic voices and have decided to renew the licence of the potential carcinogenic herbicide.
This decision does not only ignore the precautionary principle and a score of scientific studies indicating that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic; it is a direct show of contempt towards citizens and their sadly flawed European democratic tools. The European Citizens Initiative (ECI) which, provided a million signatures are gathered, allows Europeans to mandate the European Commission with a topic on which to initiate debate, is an infamously unusable format, with the vast majority of such initiatives being scrapped. However, in this case over 1,3 million signatures were collected by the ECI “Stop Glyphosate“; a historic victory for civil society and citizen activism, which regardless was unceremoniously ignored by European governments. Of course, this decision also exposes the European Parliament, an institution filled with many passionate and principled individuals, for what it really is: the European Union’s astronomically expensive public relations stunt. Power, as the member states have reminded us, rests ultimately with our bickering, inward-looking governments and the powerful lobbyists who have their ear.
But this sad failure for democracy is also a timely reminder on the lead-up to the European Elections of 2019: our democratic structures are woefully inadequate for representing European citizens. That was never what they were designed to do. So, instead of being appeased with scraps that only aesthetically improve the established way of conducting politics, while ensuring minimal disruption to those in power, it is time we demand that these European institutions become answerable directly to us. Come 2019, this is what DiEM25 will demand, loud and clear, across the entire continent.
 
Erik is DiEM25’s Internal Communications Coordinator.
 

Do you want to be informed of DiEM25's actions? Sign up here

Kaja Kallas’ delusional warmongering is leading Europe to disaster

Let’s be clear: Kallas is not merely “standing” with Ukraine, she is actively pushing for an escalation of the conflict, heedless of the ...

Read more

Standing up for change: An interview with Nina Petrov on Serbia protests

Mehran Khalili sat down with Nina Petrov, a dedicated student and activist, to discuss the ongoing protests in Serbia and her hopes for the ...

Read more

Yanis Varoufakis to speak at ‘We Demand Change’ summit in London

This pivotal event aims to unite activists, trade unionists, and campaigners to foster the movements necessary for transformative change

Read more

No NATO war summit! Counter-Summit Coalition calls for peace and justice

The Counter-Summit Coalition for Peace and Justice is organising a demonstration and counter-summit against NATO in The Hague on June 21 and 22

Read more