Division of congregations
German tenant gets glyphosate ban
Stralsund, Rostock, Schwerin, Puchheim. More and more municipalities in Germany are taking their own courts and deciding, against European approval, to ban the use of glyphosate. Municipalities are not convinced that the herbicide poses no health risks. Tenants are also affected by this.
In the Netherlands, the use of glyphosate has already been banned on pavements, which means that within municipalities there is hardly any recourse to the herbicide. In Germany the consequences are more far-reaching. Farmers who lease land from the municipality will have to deal with the ban and are no longer allowed to use Roundup, as it is popularly called.
German yes vote
At the end of November, the European Commission (EC) still ruled in favor of glyphosate. Former German agriculture minister Christian Schmidt ignored the advice of Chancellor Merkel and voted in favour. This is how the yes camp gained the upper hand and the controversial license of glyphosate was extended by 5 years extended.
France is clearly against it, led by President Macron and his agriculture minister. Germany is deeply divided over the issue, which has earned Schmidt a hefty reprimand. The new agriculture minister Julia Klöckner adopts a realistic picture of the situation† She is talking about plant protection products, not about pesticides or poisons. Klöckner does want to reduce its use in the coming years.
Vision Julia Klöckner
About glyphosate she is clearly† "We've reduced usage by 5% in 30 years." She does believe that the future of the drug lies with the farmers. “Von profis, für profis,” she says. The largest users are hobby gardeners and national railways. There should be a ban for that.
She also takes a reserved attitude towards the insecticide neonicontinoids. "Rapeseed and sugar beet crops are completely eaten bare without the product, so that the farmer has a complete crop failure. I don't want to lose sight of that." She does not criticize her predecessor for his yes vote in Brussels.
Own judge
German municipalities are now making their own decision. Like this chooses the northern German city of Stralsund to ban the drug. This means that glyphosate may no longer be applied to the 7.000 hectares of leased land. Most of this land is located on the purely agricultural island of Rügen. Other cities, such as Puchheim in Bavaria, also choose to ban the drug. Cities where the Grünen party is strong in the city council can count on strong opposition.
Glyphosate is also discredited in Belgium. The Brussels government has sued the EC at the European Court of Justice, news site writes Le Soir† The Brussels-Capital Region does not agree with the extension for 5 years. They demand that the drug be phased out within a maximum of 3 years.
Niels van der Boom
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