NGOs to take Commission to court over re-approval of glyphosate

A group of European NGOs announced on Thursday (27 June) that they will take the European Commission to the EU’s top court over the 10-year re-authorisation of glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller

The move comes after the EU’s executive rejected a request by Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe and five other NGOs for an “internal review” of the decision to re-authorise the controversial herbicide.  

In November 2023, EU member states failed to reach a majority decision on whether or not to extend the authorisation of glyphosate beyond its expiry date in December.

Under EU law, the Commission can decide on the authorisation renewal in such cases, and it opted to allow the substance to be sold on the EU market for another ten years.

NGOs say the EU executive acted against the bloc’s rules by disregarding studies on glyphosate’s potential harm to humans and the environment, a claim that the Commission denies.  

According to the NGOs, the risk assessments by the two EU bodies that provided scientific advice for the decision – the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – were flawed.  

“Findings from independent science were systematically discarded or given much less weight than sometimes decade old industry studies,” reads a PAN Europe press release. 

But in a written response to the organisations sent on Wednesday (26 June), the Commission said “all pertinent studies” on toxicity had been evaluated.  

The letter, signed by EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, concluded that there had been no breach of environmental law, and that the NGOs’ request for a further review was “unfounded”.  

In January, EFSA told Euractiv the risk assessment of glyphosate had been “the most comprehensive and transparent” ever carried out by the agency. 

The Helsinki-based ECHA also stood by its conclusions, telling Euractiv that it had assessed all available evidence before concluding that glyphosate was not carcinogenic or genotoxic. 

The legal process initiated by the NGOs at the EU’s General Court is expected to take around two years.

A call to member states 

Following the re-authorisation of glyphosate at an EU level, member states were given 15 months to decide whether products containing the substance can be sold at a national level.  

The EU executive asked national authorities to pay “particular attention” to issues such as the protection of operators, non-professional users, and groundwater pollution.   

On Thursday, PAN Europe sent a letter to EU countries urging them to ban or restrict the herbicide in their territory. 

“We urge you to ensure that your respective authorities do not grant or renew the national authorisations of glyphosate-based herbicides,” reads the letter, calling for the protection of farmers against the substance.  

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Rajnish Singh]

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