Determine France & Germany
Dime on its side for glyphosate license
The European Commission (EC) will vote on a 23-year renewal for the license of glyphosate on October 10. More than 12 member states have pledged to vote in favour, including the Netherlands. Germany and France, the 2 most important countries, are in doubt. Whether the herbicide has a future is therefore extremely uncertain.
Monday, October 23, a new voting round will take place within the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF) in Brussels. If it is not possible to obtain the necessary support for a new license, a new meeting will be held on 12 December. More than a dozen member states have pledged to vote in favour. The Netherlands is also part of this.
Other major proponents are the United Kingdom, Spain and Poland. The EU Commissioner for Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, says that a majority of EU Member States must vote in favour. The consenting member states must represent at least 65% of the EU population.
Guessing Opinion
The bottleneck is the position of France and Germany. The 2 most important European member states, with the largest population behind them. Their opinion on the authorization of glyphosate remains unclear. France in particular has doubts about the new licence. Without their support, an admission is not possible. The situation is a dime on its side.
The license of glyphosate will expire on December 31, 2017. Without renewal, a ban will come into effect on January 1. What follows is an extension period of 6 months.
Niels van der Boom
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