The Luxembourg Ministry of Agriculture announced in a press release on Thursday 16 January that it would ban glyphosate permanently by the end of 2020.
The ban will take place in three phases: - a withdrawal of the authorisation for market launch of plant protection products containing the active substance glyphosate from 1 February; - a stock clearance period until 30 June; - a grace period for the use of these products until 31 December 2020.
Farmers who stop using glyphosate beginning in the 2019/20 crop year will be compensated through the landscape and nature conservation premium. They will receive additional compensation per hectare of €30 for arable land, €50 for vineyards and €100 for fruit trees.
Luxembourg winegrowers are the first in the EU to voluntarily renounce all glyphosate use as of the 2019-2020 crop year. By agreeing to voluntarily renounce all use of herbicides in their vineyards, they will receive compensation of between 500 and 550 euros per hectare, depending on the slope of the land.
In Austria, the herbicide was supposed to be banned at the beginning of 2020, but the government backed down at the end of 2019.
Renewed in mid-December 2017, the licence to use glyphosate in the EU continues until 15 December 2022 (see EUROPE 11924/14). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)