The future in Europe for glyphosate, a substance used in the well-known Round-Up and other herbicides, is uncertain. The EU was supposed to have taken a decision on this issue at the end of October but once again postponed the vote on it as the member states seem unable to agree. The permission to use glyphosate in the EU expires in December. A new voting date has not yet been decided.
The EU Commission’s proposal is now to renew the permit to use glyphosate for 5-7 years instead of 10 years as was originally planned. But some countries, including France and Sweden, want to get rid of glyphosate altogether. The European Parliament has also voted for a ban. The experts do not agree whether glyphosate should be considered as cancerogenic or not; the scientific studies are inconclusive and point in both directions.
