A meeting of an EU standing committee on Thursday failed to vote on the reauthorisation of glyphosate for five years.

A five-year proposal on the re-authorisation of glyphosate was on the table from the European Commission, but the standing committee failed to vote on it at the second time of asking.

The news was confirmed on Twitter, with a number of EU MEPs tweeting the news.

Luxembourg environment minister Carole Dieschbourg, tweeted that there was no qualified majority on the reauthorisation of glyphosate.

Also tweeting was Marc Tarabella, a Belgian MEP. He said (translated): “No sufficient majority to grant permission to the #Glyphosate Decision postponed.”

Germany is understood to have abstained from the vote and on Wednesday it emerged that French environment minister Nicolas Hulot told French media that his country would vote against the five-year licence.

Instead, he said that France’s position was for a three-year reauthorisation.

What next?

A date for a third attempt at a vote by the standing committee has not been set yet.

The European Commission can now come back again, with a new proposal on reauthorisation or make its own decision on a short-term extension of the existing authorisation, which is what happened last time.

The case could also be referred to an appeals committee.

Glyphosate’s authorisation expires on 15 December, which brings Thursday’s decision on the active-ingredient precariously close to expiring without a decision being made on its future.

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