When they voted in the Appeal Committee on Tuesday 15 November, EU Member States did not support the European Commission’s proposal for a one-year renewal of glyphosate authorisation in the EU, nor did they reject it in sufficient numbers. It therefore failed to achieve the required qualified majority.
The Commission’s invitation to the reluctant countries to reconsider their position, following a first vote without a qualified majority for or against in the Standing Committee on Plants, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF), was not heeded (see EUROPE 13044/6).
However, the Commission will go ahead with the one-year authorisation of this highly controversial pesticide.
In all cases, until now, a vote without a qualified majority for or against a proposal, at expert level or in the Appeal Committee, is considered as a lack of decision by the EU Member States, according to the comitology procedure.
“Regretfully, despite a majority of Member States supporting the Commission’s proposal, the necessary qualified majority was unfortunately not reached. The Commission now has a legal obligation to take a decision before the expiration deadline in mid-December. The Commission will now proceed to adopt the Regulation, extending the approval period of glyphosate by one year (i.e. until 15 December 2023),” commented a spokesperson for the EU institution.
The NGO PAN Europe, which had warned that the one-year postponement of EFSA’s conclusions on the evaluation of glyphosate could lead to an equivalent extension of the authorisation (see EUROPE 12950/14), has interpreted the Member States’ vote politically, considering that it blocks the extension.
“PAN Europe congratulates the courage of the Member States that opposed to the prolongation of glyphosate. Today’s vote is a strong signal towards the European Commission that we need to phase out glyphosate once and for all,” said the NGO.
The final EFSA assessment will be available by July 2023 (see EUROPE 13059/25). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)