The European Commission has undone a ban on glyphosate by the Brussels-Capital Region, L’Echo newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Commission said the Region could not use the precautionary principle to ban the herbicide since that was too abstract a consideration, according to a Brussels Government memorandum that Echo consulted.

The regional authorities had based their prohibition on the absence of a scientific consensus on the harmfulness of the pesticide, a reason the Commission judged insufficient. It cited a list of expert opinions according to which there was no justification for classifying glyphosate as cancerous.

In May last, Brussels had lodged a complaint against the Commission at the European Court of Justice for non-respect of the precautionary principle when it extended the authorization of glyphosate.

The European decision would appear to be a direct response to the complaint, L’Echo commented.

Christopher Vincent

The Brussels Times