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Luxembourg’s Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development reported that the Grand Duchy voted for the second time against the renewal of the ten-year approval of glyphosate within the European Union on Thursday 16 November 2023.
As in the vote of 13 October 2023, no qualified majority emerged among the Member States (a qualified majority requires the vote of fifteen out of 27 States, representing at least 65% of the European population). With no qualified majority, the European Commission now holds the decisive authority for the renewal of glyphosate approval.
A decision must be adopted before 15 December 2023 since the current approval of glyphosate will expire on this date.
Luxembourg, working for sustainable agriculture, continues through the agrarian law to encourage the abandonment of plant protection products, in particular glyphosate, a widely-used herbicide.
Greenpeace Luxembourg called the renewal of the authorisation of this herbicide for ten years a “denial of science”. Multiple scientists noted the likely negative effects of glyphosate on human health and the environment.
“This is a real blow, not only for agriculture and the environment but also for human health,” warned Raymond Aendekerk, agricultural referent and director of Greenpeace Luxembourg. “We congratulate Luxembourg for having had the courage to ban glyphosate in 2020. Once again, Luxembourg voted against this extension by taking the precautionary right seriously. We expect the new government to examine all possible legal remedies to once again ban glyphosate on our territory in order to protect citizens, the environment and biodiversity,” added Raymond Aendekerk.
Agriculture without glyphosate is possible and already exists, Greenpeace Luxembourg noted. Many farmers did not use it during the two-year ban and Luxembourg’s Ministry of Agriculture offered specific programmes to farmers.
