Luxembourg will become the first country in the European Union to ban glyphosate. The controversial herbicide will be banned at the end of 2020, with a first stage on February 1, announced the Agriculture Ministry on Thursday.
By December 31, 2020, glyphosate-based products will be banned from the country, in accordance with the government agreement dating from 2018. This is "a decisive step in a sustainable approach" with the objective of "using the products modern phytopharmaceuticals that respect the environment, ”said the Luxembourg Minister of Agriculture in a press release.
The agricultural union not reassured
The ban will be made in three phases: a withdrawal of the marketing authorization on February 1, a time limit for stocks until June 30, then a grace period for the use of products on December 31 2020. In fact, almost 60% of farms have already given up on glyphosate.
The government introduced in late 2019 a system of compensation for the thousand active farms in the small country of 600,000 inhabitants. The basic premiums are 30 euros / hectare for agricultural land and 50 euros / hectare for vineyard land.
Amounts deemed insufficient by the Centrale paysanne, the main agricultural union in Luxembourg. "We will be asking for compensation for the additional costs of not using glyphosate," said Josiane Willems, union director. "This will obviously pose problems for farmers. We have to find valid and viable alternatives. "
Not before 2023 in France
Luxembourg hopes that its approach will produce a “significant leverage effect” in the EU. Other countries have already started a similar movement. In Austria, the pesticide was already to be banned in early 2020 but the government backed down in December for a procedural error. The proposed law should in fact have been notified to the European Commission "so that it and the member states can make comments".
The license to use glyphosate in the EU runs until December 15, 2022. Its fate is debated in many countries. France has planned "to get out of most uses by January 1, 2021, and all uses by January 1, 2023", according to the government. This timetable was considered difficult to maintain by a recent parliamentary report.
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