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The re-authorisation of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate did not find a majority in the EU Commission last Friday. According to the Commission's proposal, the use of glyphosate should be approved again for ten years. However, the expert panel of member states could not agree. Now the Appeals Committee will decide again in November on the plant protection product, whose current authorisation in the European Union expires on 15 December 2023.
A qualified majority would have been necessary for a new authorisation. This requires the approval of at least 55 percent of the EU states, which at the same time represent at least 65 percent of the EU population. France had already announced its intention to abstain before the vote. Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (The Greens) had also abstained on behalf of Germany, although - as agreed in the coalition agreement - he had repeatedly spoken out in favour of taking glyphosate off the market from 2024. If there is neither a qualified majority for nor against the proposal in the appeal committee, the EU Commission can decide on its own.
In a statement, the organic association Bioland recalls existing studies that warn of the negative consequences of glyphosate use on ecosystems and health. Bioland President Jan Plagge sees the result of the vote as a good sign. "The EU Commission should now draw the only correct conclusion from this and withdraw its proposal for an extension," said Plagge.
Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world and is marketed by the Leverkusen-based pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer. The company remains confident that enough other member states will support the renewal of glyphosate's authorisation in the next step of the approval process, Agrarheute magazine reports.
(ru / Tagesschau; Agrarheute)