Glyphosate: European Environment Commission votes against approval

The European Commission “should not renew the approval of the herbicide substance glyphosate on the EU market”, voted the European Parliament’s Environment Committee on 22 March ARC2020 reports.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) passed a resolution on Tuesday by 38 votes to 6, with 18 abstentions which objects to the Commission’s plans to approve the controversial substance in June of this year, for a further 15 years.

In  a statement the Committee said “So long as serious concerns remain about the carcinogenicity and endocrine disruptive properties of the herbicide glyphosate, which is used in hundreds of farm, forestry, urban and garden applications, the EU Commission should not renew its authorisation. Instead, it should commission an independent review and disclose all the scientific evidence that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) used to assess glyphosate, said Environment Committee MEPs on Tuesday”, Oliver Moore (WHES2016) reports.

Next steps will be the motion for a resolution that will be put to a vote at the 11-14 April plenary session in Strasbourg. National experts sitting in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (Phytopharmaceuticals Section) will vote to adopt or reject the Commission proposal by qualified majority in May. If there is no such majority, it will be up to the European Commission to decide.