The member state representatives on the EU’s PAFF committee, meeting in Brussels on Thursday 20 July, held an initial exchange of views with the European Commission on the latter’s proposal to renew the authorisation of glyphosate for a period of ten years. Glyphosate is the active substance in the world’s most widely used herbicide. The proposal has been the cause of controversy for two years against a backdrop of scientific controversy over whether or not it is carcinogenic.
In the view of the Commission, “constructive discussions” were held even though few – some five or seven – representatives spoke. No vote was taken at this stage. The Commission called on the member states to submit their comments in writing before 1 September. A further discussion will take place thereafter.
Its target is to finalise discussions in the autumn then put the matter to a vote, possibly at the PAFF committee meeting at the start of October or at the start of November. “It’s still too soon to give a date”, health and food safety spokesperson, Anka Paduraru, told EUROPE.
Just as he had told European agriculture ministers on 17 July, Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said that the Commission “has no intention to re-approve glyphosate without the support of a qualified majority of member states”, adding that “this is and will remain a shared responsibility” (see EUROPE 11831).
This is a way of putting pressure on the member states and preventing them from abstaining, as happened last year with the temporary extension, until the end of 2017 at the latest, of the glyphosate licence (see EUROPE 11591 and 11580).
Last year, France voted against the temporary extension of the licence and its position could be important this time. The new minister of ecological and solidary transition Nicolas Hulot gave assurances ahead of the meeting that he would be “firm”.
The Commission proposal, which is based on the opinions of the European agencies (EFSA and ECHA) that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic for humans (contrary to the view reached by the WHO), is for the authorisation of the active substance glyphosate to be renewed in the EU for ten years and makes the member states responsible for considering requests for authorisation and for authorisation within their borders of products containing glyphosate.
The Commission recommends that care be taken to protect groundwater and land animals not targeted, and that use of these products be kept to a minimum in areas used by the public and vulnerable groups (for example, pregnant women, children, infants, older people and workers and residents subject to long-term exposure to pesticides) and to observe a prohibition on the co-formulant POE-tallowamine, which is already banned across the EU.
French MEP Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA) continues to believe that “the Commission proposal has no scientific basis. We now know that representatives of the glyphosate industry were able to re-read and amend, right up until the last minute, the EFSA conclusions on how dangerous glyphosate is”, she said on behalf of her political group on the eve of the PAFF committee meeting. She added: “We are calling on the experts on the standing committee to reject renewal of the authorisation”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)