MEPs to back national powers on GM bans
Parliament to back greater freedom for member states to ban GM crops in the name of environmental protection
National authorities should be able to prevent genetically modified (GM) crops from being grown on their soil by citing the environmental uncertainties posed by the technology, the European Parliament’s environment committee is expected to say next week (12 April).
The committee is likely to endorse a report by Corinne Lepage, a French Liberal MEP, which backs greater freedom for member states to ban GM crops in the name of environmental protection. Next week’s vote will be the first official input from the Parliament to the EU’s attempts to update its rules on authorising GM crops for cultivation.
The EU has long struggled to reach decisions on growing GM crops, because of the sharp divergence between those countries that allow the technology and those that oppose it.
John Dalli, the European commissioner for health and consumer policy, also wants to give national governments greater freedom to decide whether or not to cultivate GM crops. He sees it as a way of breaking the stalemate over new approvals.
Dalli’s proposal would allow governments to ban GM crops if there is the prospect of public disorder – such as protesters tearing crops out of fields – or a threat to public morals. But this approach has been slammed as inadequate by lawyers for the Parliament and Council of Ministers, and could expose member states to legal challenge.
Lepage, a former environmental lawyer, said that her first reaction to the Commission’s proposal was that it offered “no [legal] security for member states”.
Local input
The French MEP also wants to bring a more local flavour to scientific evaluation of these crops. She argues that Europe-wide scientific studies conducted by the Parma-based European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) fail to take into account the variation in eco-systems and farming practices between and within countries. In her view, national authorities should be able to use studies on the local environmental impact of growing GM crops, without relying exclusively on EFSA’s pan-European assessment.
Lepage said that a “large majority” of European citizens were against the cultivation of GM crops, adding that it would be “unacceptable” for the EU to prevent member states from respecting the wishes of the majority.
The Parliament’s vote comes as the European Commission prepares to publish a report on the social and economic impact of growing GM crops in the EU. The report is expected next week, although the exact day of publication has not been set. The report is almost ten months later than the deadline set by environment ministers, who asked for the study in December 2008. The Commission has blamed member states for failing to submit data in time.