EU faces legal challenge from French lawyer over weedkiller sale decision
Corinne Lepage fighting decision to allow glyphosate to be sold in Europe for another 10 years
Glyphosate can still be used by farmers, but is banned in gardens and by local councils
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French lawyer Corinne Lepage has opened a case in the European Court of Justice against the EU’s 2023 decision to allow the weedkiller glyphosate to be sold in Europe for another 10 years.
The EU took the decision despite not getting enough member states to approve it.
It argued that studies carried out since 2019 by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Authority found the agencies “did not identify critical areas of concern that would prevent a renewal of the product”.
WHO verdict on glyphosate
By contrast, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the weedkiller as “probably carcinogenic” in 2015 after a study by the International Agency for Research on Cancers.
This was challenged by scientists in 2017, who found the report had been heavily edited to exclude results of tests which did not fit its final findings.
In France, glyphosate has been banned for use in gardens and by local councils, but can still be used by farmers, with the agriculture minister saying no alternatives exist.
Latest figures from the environment ministry, dating from 2021, show around 8,100 tonnes of the product are sold on average each year.
Maitre Lepage, who was herself environment minister between 1995 and 1997, said she found the EU’s decision “astonishing”.
“The previous authorisation was only for five years, and the decision means that each individual state will now have to take its own precautions,” she said.
She is acting on behalf of three French environmental organisations, and said she expected a written judgement on her submissions in summer 2025.
Read more: Boy, 16, compensated in France after mother’s exposure to glyphosate
The WHO list of probable carcinogenic substances is controversial in France because it now includes red meat, as well as nitrates and nitrites, salts traditionally used in French charcuterie.
