The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Commission recommends renewal of glyphosate licence for five years
EU: Proposal comes after states fail to reach agreement on 10-year licence
In the latest twist in the glyphosate saga, the European Commission has recommended glyphosate’s licence should be renewed for five years, after agreement wasn’t reached to renew it for 10 years last week.
During a vote by MEPs, 16 countries voted in favour of a 10-year licence, but 10 voted against and two abstained, meaning a qualified majority could not be reached.
Bulgaria, Denmark, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and UK voted in favour.
Germany and Portugal abstained while Belgium, Greece, Croatia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden voted against the renewal.
Questions have been asked why Germany abstained from the vote but sources suggest it is because there is no internal agreement within the country on how best to proceed with glyphosate.
Reasoning the new move, the Commission said new information on glyphosate was being published “at an exceptionally high rate compared to other active substances”.
It said: “Therefore possibilities of rapid future developments in science and technology should be taken into account when deciding on the length of the approval period of glyphosate, also bearing in mind the fact glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in the union.
“In light of these specificities, and bearing in mind the need to ensure a level of safety and protection consistent with the high level of protection sought within the union, from a riskmanagement perspective it is appropriate to provide for a renewal of the approval, for a period of five years, ensuring a priority reassessment for glyphosate over other active substances.”
The commission says it has now submitted to EU countries its proposal for a five-year approval, with a vote now expected at the next sitting of the relevant committee on November 9.
In another move, France, who voted against a 10-year approval, said it was prepared to accept a four-year licence extension.
EU farmers groups have said the product is safe and that removing it would put its farmers at a competitive disadvantage compared to non-European countries that still use it.
The current EU licence for glyphosate expires on December 15.