Jun 25, 2009

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Council of Environment Ministers in Luxembourg

National cultivation bans on GM plants: An end to the political deadlock in the EU?

In future, EU member states may be able to decide whether to permit the cultivation of genetically modified plants themselves. This proposal, backed by thirteen countries, is designed to end years of deadlock in EU genetic engineering policy. This was one of the initiatives discussed at the meeting of the EU environment ministers in Luxembourg, but whether EU legislation will actually be changed remains to be seen.

The idea, which was proposed by Austria and is supported by Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, Slovenia, Malta, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Cyprus sees genetically modified plants continuing to be approved EU-wide under the existing regulations, but individual countries being able to ban their cultivation at national level. The Netherlands, a ‘GM-friendly’ nation, proposed something similar back in March.

“Given the current unsatisfactory situation and the negative attitude towards GMOs of large parts of the population in many Member States, the time has come to find a new approach to deal with the authorisation and use of GMOs in agriculture,” reads the note submitted by the Austrian delegation.

National bans currently only permitted to avert danger

Under the EU legislation currently in force, a member state can prohibit the cultivation of an approved GM plant only if new scientific findings raise doubts about its safety. The reason for this ‘safeguard clause’ is to allow a country to respond quickly and effectively with a national ban on the GM plant in question in order to protect consumer health or the environment against the newly identified risks. A large number of EU countries have made use of this clause, the most recent being Germany with its ban on MON810 maize.

Under EU legislation, the validity of the scientific grounds for such bans is assessed by EFSA´s GMO Panel. However, although no scientific grounds have been found for any of the national cultivation bans so far, the necessary votes in the Council of Ministers have failed to reach the required majority to force the national bans to be lifted.

The Single European Market ceased to exist long ago where plant biotechnology is concerned: although there are EU-wide binding authorisations in place, the cultivation of GM plants is permitted in some countries, yet banned in others.

National self-determination despite EU-wide approvals

The new proposals from Austria and the Netherlands would legalise a situation that has long been a political reality. In future, an EU member state would be able to ban the cultivation of an approved GM plant indefinitely, without having to provide scientific evidence of new risks. The Commission would also draw up a list of possible socio-economic criteria that could be used to justify national bans.

The aim of the proposal is to “allow member states to decide for themselves as regards cultivation, without changing the general authorisation procedure”. Just recently, the Director-General for Environment of the European Commissions, Karl Falkenberg, announced in a press interview that the EU approval system for GMOs should be revised as soon as possible. The Commission did not want to push through any more decisions against the prevailing position on GMOs in the Council of Ministers, Falkenberg said, referring to the pending decisions on the authorisation of the Amflora potato and two other GM maize lines.

In Luxembourg the environment ministers took note of the proposal, with more countries, including Germany and France, declaring their support. However, no formal decisions were taken. In any case, only the European Commission can introduce modifications to the existing legislation. The European Parliament and member states also have to agree. Moreover, it will be some time before the new European Commission is established in office and in a position to make policy decisions. Another issue that has not been fully cleared up is whether shifting political decision-making responsibility to the member states is compatible with the WTO treaties signed by the EU.

Not much will change in the short term, either in the legislation or in the political standoff.