Still no consensus. Representatives of the 28 European Union (EU) member states failed on Thursday to reach an agreement on renewing the glyphosate license for five years. This proposal from Brussels did not reach the required qualified majority, two ministers announced on Twitter.
“No qualified majority for the reauthorization of glyphosate in today’s (Thursday) vote,” said Luxembourg Environment Minister Carole Dieschbourg on the social network. The Belgian Minister of Agriculture, Denis Ducarme, also reported on the situation regarding this herbicide.
“No opinion”: this is the result of the vote in the absence of a clear majority, for or against the authorization, explained the European executive in a short statement. The majority of countries (14) voted in favor of the proposal, but this does not allow the demographic weight (65% of the population) to be reached. “Taking into account its legal obligations and the fact that the current authorization expires on 15 December, the European Commission will now present the proposal to an appeal committee at the end of November,” he specifies.
France votes against, Germany abstains
France, one of the EU’s demographic heavyweights whose importance counts in qualified majority votes, announced on Wednesday its desire to vote against. “France is in a three-year position,” said the minister of ecological transition, Nicolas Hulot. Other countries, such as Luxembourg, had also warned they would vote against, while some, such as Germany, abstained in Thursday’s vote.
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The Commission had initially planned a vote for 25 October, but abandoned it after consulting the members of the technical committee responsible for the dossier, made up of experts appointed by the Member States. The Commission’s initial proposal was to renew the authorization for ten years, after the green light given by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), but it took into account the apprehensions of many countries and reduced it to five years.
If the appeal committee referred to by the Commission does not lead to a decision by a majority of the Member States, the final decision will rest with the Commission. But health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has repeatedly rejected the idea of taking sole responsibility for a renewal decision.
Nicolas Hulot “proud” that France “resists”
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