Abstract
The authorization and use of pesticides in the European Union (EU) have become increasingly controversial and politically salient over the past decade. In particular the European Commission’s decision to re-authorize the use of glyphosate, the active substance in Bayer/Monsanto’s Roundup, after it had been classified a ‘probable human carcinogen’ by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was highly controversial and triggered a lively debate on how to reform EU pesticide regulation. In this policy report, we assess whether and how specific reforms to decision-making procedures could impact public support for EU pesticides regulation, including acceptance of authorization decisions on controversial substances such as glyphosate. To do so, we first identified the main challenges of European pesticides regulation exposed by recent developments, including (but not limited to) the glyphosate controversy, as well as the actual and potential reforms proposed by the EU institutions, civil society organizations, academic commentators, and other stakeholders. We grouped these challenges and related reform proposals into four dimensions, namely: 1) the organization of the decision-making process; 2) the factors considered when authorizing pesticides; 3) sources of evidence and potential conflicts of interest; and 4) post-market monitoring and review of authorized pesticides. We then conducted a pair of linked online survey experiments on public attitudes toward reform of EU pesticides regulation in June 2020 among a representative sample of the adult population in six Member States (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden, n=9022). Our results show that the introduction of systematic post-authorization monitoring and review, and consideration of all relevant scientific studies in the authorization decision are the two most promising reforms to increase public support for pesticides regulation. Moreover, if a hypothetical glyphosate authorization decision is taken under a decision-making procedure that citizens (strongly) support, they are more likely to accept it even if they previously opposed this outcome. Our findings are particularly relevant given that glyphosate is currently again undergoing a renewal procedure in the EU.
Highlights
The authorization and use of pesticides in the European Union (EU) have become increasingly controversial and politically salient over the past decade
We first identified the main challenges of European pesticides regulation exposed by recent developments, including the glyphosate controversy, as well as the actual and potential reforms proposed by the EU institutions, civil society organizations, academic commentators, and other stakeholders
While some reforms have been implemented and others are under discussion, little is known about what the public thinks of them, and whether they could increase public support for both EU pesticides regulation and individual authorization decisions
Summary
The authorization and use of pesticides in the European Union (EU) have become increasingly controversial and politically salient over the past decade. In the EU, glyphosate’s re-authorization by the European Commission in 2017 (for an abbreviated five-year period) was hotly contested, triggering broad public distrust in the adequacy of the current European regulatory framework to ensure a high level of protection for public health and the environment Such public distrust and ensuing political mobilization are reflected in a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate, which gathered over one million signatures in less than five months following the re-authorization decision. Several Member States and regions have adopted bans on glyphosate, in apparent contravention of EU law, under which authorization of active substances in pesticides should occur at European level.2 Such public controversy and political contestation have stimulated a wide-ranging debate about which reforms should be adopted to improve EU pesticides regulation. Please be aware that you are free to stop at any later moment
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