Action brought on 3 August 2020 – CRII-GEN and Others v Commission

(Case T-496/20)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicants: Comité de recherche et d’information indépendantes sur le génie génétique CRII-GEN (Paris, France) and the six other applicants (represented by: C. Lepage, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicants claim that the Court should:

declare the present action admissible;

annul the decision at issue;

order the European Commission to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of their action against the decision of the Commission of 17 June 2020 dismissing the applicant’s informal appeal seeking the revocation of the approval of glyphosate, the applicants rely on a single plea in law, alleging failure to apply the precautionary principle. According to the applicants, the precautionary principle gives a reason for taking restrictive measures in respect of the authorisation of glyphosate, thus leading to a review, or even the revocation of its authorisation. In that regard, they claim that countless studies show both the carcinogenic risk and the risk as an endocrine disruptor of glyphosate and the products deriving from it. Furthermore, the link that is progressively being identified between air polluting pesticides and Covid-19 necessarily entails a review of the authorisation of glyphosate in the light of those new circumstances.

____________