Health groups call on the leaders of the Western Balkan countries to harmonize national air quality standards with the World Health Organization Global air quality guidelines. Health experts should be actively involved in these decision-making processes to ensure the timely integration of public health measures into environmental policies. Compliance with WHO recommendations brings multiple benefits – reduced incidence of chronic diseases and premature deaths, reduced overall health costs and, most importantly, better health and higher productivity of people.
9 November 2017, Brussels – European representatives of the 28 Member States met today in Brussels in a new attempt to come to a decision on the future of the herbicide glyphosate on the European market (1).
However, the new text from the European Commission – proposing a five-year renewal without restrictions – failed to gather the qualified majority necessary to be adopted. The European Commission announced that it will now submit the proposal to the appeal committee at the end of November.
Commenting on the meeting, Natacha Cingotti, Health and Chemicals Policy Officer at the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) said:
“Today’s failure to gather a majority support for a five-year renewal of glyphosate illustrates the lack of broad political support for its reauthorisation. Well-founded concerns about its impacts on human health and the European evaluation process are not going away. We urge member states to stand up for their citizens and press the European Commission to deliver a full exit plan for glyphosate, including strict restrictions for use, as soon as possible.”
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