(Reuters) – European Union (EU) member states failed to reach a decision on Friday on a proposal to extend by 10 years the authorization of glyphosate, the controversial active ingredient in Bayer AG’s Roundup weedkiller.
A “qualified majority” of 15 countries representing at least 65% of the EU population was required to support or block the proposal.
In the absence of such a majority, EU governments will make another attempt in the first half of November. In the absence of a new clear opinion, the decision will fall to the European Commission.
France abstained from the vote because the Commission’s proposal does not limit the authorization of glyphosate when no alternatives exist, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
President Emmanuel Macron declared at the end of 2017 that the use of glyphosate would be banned in France within three years at the latest, before admitting that a total ban was “impossible”.
Use of glyphosate in France fell by 27% between 2017 and 2022 according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
In July, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said it had “not identified any areas of critical concern” preventing the renewal of glyphosate’s authorization.
In the EU’s latest licensing approval of glyphosate, the European bloc granted a five-year extension. EU countries had twice previously refused to support a ten-year period.
(Written by Philip Blenkinsop, Marine Strauss and Sybille de La Hamaide, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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