Following the ECIs ”Stop Vivisection“, ”One of us“ and ”Water is a Human Right“, the initiative to ban the crop desiccant is the fourth ECI to have reached the threshold of one million signatures and all legal requirements in order to be submitted to the European Commission. Launched at the end of January 2017, “Stop Glyphosate” has collected the required statements of support in less than five months, making it the fastest growing ECI since the EU introduced the ECI tool on 1 April 2012.

As a reaction, the Commission has announced its intention to renew the EU glyphosate licence by another 10 years. It is expected to issue a formal proposal ahead of a discussion with EU government representatives on 19 - 20 July. EU governments will be invited to vote on this proposal after the summer. Based on the outcome, the Commission will take a final decision before the end of the year, when the current EU glyphosate licence expires.

Four successful ECIs within 5 years? For Democracy International, this track record of the only tool of transnational participatory democracy is far too insufficient. The global coalition for democracy has continuously been campaigning for an ECI that works. In March, the European Commission responded to the pressure by civil society groups from across Europe and promised to improve the ECI legislation. Democracy International is currently asking for submissions to the public consultation the Commission is running until 16 August 2017. Participate in the consultation here:

Text by Cora Pfafferott