[ad_1]
The green-turquoise coalition petitioned parliament Monday for a partial ban on glyphosate, a herbicide; it will be voted on in May. It is planned that in the future its use will not be allowed in sensitive places such as playgrounds and parks. The gardens of the house and plots and private use are also affected.
According to current EU law, a total ban on glyphosate can only be achieved with great difficulty, if at all: according to EU legal expert Walter Obwexer, an individual national effort is only possible under two conditions: New scientific findings should be presented that would be necessary when the approval of glyphosate in 2017 was unknown. And there would have to be specific proven problems, for example for the environment or health, which only exist in Austria but not in any other country in the EU. EU. The expert did not consider either of these two conditions feasible. However, what is very possible is the decision to ban the use of glyphosate, a very massive decision.
No more sales
in hardware stores
This will now be achieved with the application: The commercialization of glyphosate would therefore be for application areas such as sports and leisure areas with public access, swimming pools, educational institutions, playgrounds, parks and gardens, cemeteries, facilities for the disabled, facilities for the care of the elderly, health and care facilities prohibited. The ban would also apply to home and parcel gardens, as well as non-professional use, provided there is no proof of competence.
“With the partial ban, we have taken the first step towards a total ban on glyphosate across the EU. This bans the sale of the pesticide to private users in Austria. Glyphosate will eventually disappear from hardware store shelves. We want a ban that won’t it will come soon will be struck down by the supreme courts and then played into the hands of the pesticide manufacturers, “said Olga Voglauer, agriculture spokeswoman for the Greens.
Consequently, it was particularly important for the Greens “in this first step to protect especially sensitive groups of people, such as children and the elderly.” ÖVP agriculture spokesperson Georg Strasser emphasized that the EU Commission stated unequivocally in its statement that a total national ban is not compatible with the applicable Union law. “Austria will take feedback into account and that is exactly what we are doing with this step,” stressed Strasser.
In Austria, the glyphosate ban decided by the National Council in the summer of 2019 without the votes of the ÖVP should have entered into force on January 1, 2020. The then-Chancellor Brigitte Bierlein did not announce the law due to a formal error, since that the draft should have been submitted to the EU for advance notification, which was then cleared in May 2020; this was followed by the EU statement.
Criticisms of the SPÖ and environmentalists
The request for a partial glyphosate ban has been harshly criticized by the SPÖ and environmental NGOs. “The Greens have finally bowed down to the ÖVP agricultural lobby. Instead of finally implementing a total glyphosate ban in Austria, the ÖVP and the Greens want this environmental toxin to continue to be used in agriculture and therefore also among in the food chain. “said SPÖ Deputy Chief Jörg Leichtfried.
For Greenpeace, the legislative proposal presented by the ruling parties in the National Council was “an environmental indictment.” 90 percent of the glyphosate used in Austria would be used in agriculture and forestry and would not be restricted by the new law. According to Greenpeace, most people in Austria would demand a total ban.
Global 2000 also criticized the “light glyphosate ban” as “completely inappropriate.” “A glyphosate ban that only applies to individuals is like a speed limit on road traffic that only applies to pedestrians,” Global 2000 environmental chemist Helmut Burtscher-Schaden commented on the bill in question.
