An initial round of votes on whether to renew glyphosate’s license for a further 10 years in the EU on Wednesday morning failed to attract sufficient support today.
This will spur the European Commission to negotiate a shorter renewal period with EU countries, people involved said.
According to two officials briefed on talks inside the Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, 16 countries (Bulgaria, Denmark, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and the U.K.) voted in favor of the renewal.
That falls short of the threshold needed to reach a qualified majority. Germany and Portugal abstained while Belgium, Greece, Croatia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden voted against the renewal.
Diplomats said that the Commission is now asking around the table to see if reducing the period of the renewal could bring countries on board to support the relicensing of the popular weedkiller.
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