The EU's PAFF committee failed to agree on glyphosate on Thursday 9 November. Experts from the member states at the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed failed to achieve a qualified majority needed to approve or reject the European Commission’s proposal to renew for five years the licence for glyphosate in the EU (see EUROPE 11900).
The Commission hopes to be able to count on the support of 55% of countries representing 65% of the population and therefore decided to submit the question to an appeals committee for decision. This ad hoc body chaired by the Commission and comprising he EU28 will be represented at the highest level by delegates from PAFF and will be convened before the end of November, explains the Commission.
The appeals committee will be invited to decide on the same proposal by a qualified majority vote. In the event of a new failure, the Commission would have the power to decide on its own, but it has said it doesn’t want to. Time is pressing on as the licence for this controversial Monsanto weed killer, recognised as likely to be carcinogenic for human beings by the WHO, expires on 15 December and Monsanto is threatening to take the Commission to court in the event of failure to take a decision on authorisation.
European Commission deputy spokesperson Alexander Winterstein told reporters that most countries which voted backed the Commission proposal and the Commission has the European Parliament’s backing so it is on the right track. But Parliament is calling for a gradual phasing out of glyphosate and a total ban on 15 December 2022 – which is very different from what the European Commission is proposing.
Fourteen member states voted for the Commission’s proposal – Denmark, Spain, Finland, Estonia, Ireland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. Together, they represent 36.95% of the EU's population.
Nine member states voted against: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, and Malta (32.26% of the population).
Five countries abstained, namely Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal and Romania (30.79% of the population).
French minister Nicolas Hulot tweeted that thanks to their opposition, glyphosate will not be re-authorised for ten years, or for five. Mobilisation to get rid of pesticides continues.
The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament said it was high time that the European Commission applied Parliament’s proposal. S&D MEPs Marc Tarabella (Belgium) and Éric Andrieu (France) denounced the irresponsibility of the 28 heads of state who have not been able in a year and a half to find a solution for glyphosate, a potential carcinogen for 500 million Europeans. They call on the Commission to show the member states an exit plan for glyphosate.
NGO PAN Europe (Pesticide Action Network) says: ‘The Parliament’s vote can be seen as a response to the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban glyphosate.’ Likewise, NGO HEAL (Health and Environment) urges the member states to stand up for their citizens.
Greenpeace interprets the absence of a decision as a new refusal by European governments to back the European Commission’s proposal and calls for an immediate ban on glyphosate. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)