Two EU sources told Reuters the 28-nation bloc is unlikely at a meeting this week to approve use of the weedkiller glyphosate through 2031. That is an about-face from expectations when the two-day meeting of experts opened on Monday. “France said last week it would oppose extending approval, while EU diplomats said Germany planned to abstain,” said Reuters.
The European Commission, the administrative arm of the EU, says a decision is needed in the near term because the existing approval of glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup herbicide, expires at the end of June.
“In an email, the European Commission said the meeting would continue on Tuesday and it could not yet confirm the outcome,” said Reuters. EU food-safety officials say glyphosate is safe but the WHO cancer agency says it is probably carcinogenic to humans. One of Reuters’ sources said the decision on glyphosate would be handled by “another group in the coming weeks, months.”