FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8 November 2016
BRUSSELS – EDC-Free Europe has reacted strongly to the European Commission’s revised proposal on EDC criteria because it will fail to protect health and environment.
“Despite some clarifications, the proposed criteria will not protect citizen’s health or the environment the way the law intends. The burden of proof to identify EDCs is still too high. But even worse, the Commission kept in the massive and illegal loophole to the EDC ban on pesticides, against the spirit and intention of the law,” says EDC Free Europe spokesperson Genon K. Jensen.
The NGOs criticize:
- the unreasonably high burden of proof to identify EDCs
- the exemption that allows widespread use of endocrine disrupting pesticides
- the absence of multiple categories to rank chemicals according to scientific evidence
- the discrimination against independent studies.
The Commission has retained its proposed change to the exemption from “negligible exposure” to “negligible risk” using a flawed justification of adaptation to scientific progress. This change allows endocrine disrupting pesticides to be authorized for widespread use. But this change touches the essential balance in the law, something the Commission is not allowed to change in a committee procedure. Such changes must be done via Parliament and Council in a fully transparent and democratic ‘co-decision’ process.
Photo opportunity
EDC-Free Europe campaign partners will meet with MEPs outside the European Parliament on Wednesday 9 November to highlight a citizen’s call on endocrine disruptors. A petition from SumOfUs calls on European leaders to protect the public and environment from endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). (1)
EDC-Free campaign partners will hand over a postcard to MEPs highlighting recommendations on how to achieve an EDC-Free future, how to get EDCs properly identified, and how to reduce people’s exposure to these chemicals.
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Notes
- View the petition: Reject the EU Commission’s disastrous draft proposal on endocrine disruptors to protect public health and the environment at https://actions.sumofus.org/a/eu-endocrine-disruptors
- EDC Free Europe reaction to EU Commission proposal (released 15 June 2016) http://www.edc-free-europe.org/edc-free-europe-reaction-on-commissions-edc-criteria-proposal/
EDC Free Europe is a coalition of more than 70 environmental, health, women’s and consumer groups across Europe who share a concern about endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their impact on our health and wildlife. The coalition aims to raise awareness and urge faster governmental action on these chemicals. Over 11,000 individuals support the campaign, communicating in seven languages.