France is open to phasing out use of the weedkiller glyphosate within its borders and will vote against a proposed 10-year EU license for the weedkiller, said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Reuters reported that Philippe asked the agriculture and environment ministries to propose by the end of this year “a plan to move away from glyphosate in light of current research and available alternatives for farmers.”
A phaseout could take five years or more, said French officials. A government spokesman noted that President Emmanuel Macron was elected to a five-year term ending in 2022, which could be the date for a total ban on the herbicide.
France is the largest grain grower and exporter in the EU. French farmers said the government’s talk of a phase-out was a recognition that there is no alternative to glyphosate at present.
The European Commission, the administrative wing of the EU, has proposed a 10-year extension of the license to use glyphosate in EU nations. A vote was scheduled for next week but has been postponed for least a month. The WHO cancer agency classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen in 2015. The EU’s European Chemical Agency says it is not.