Brussels, 20/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission was sailing very close to the wind. Discussions on the proposal it brought forward in July to allow member states the option of restricting or banning cultivation within their borders of GMOs legally authorised in the EU will continue in the Council's ad hoc GMO committee. On Monday 20 December, the Environment Council gave the go-ahead to continuing talks so that a satisfactory, legally sound solution can be found, but most delegations made this go-ahead conditional on a number of express conditions: the Commission must, at the same time, fully implement the unanimous conclusions adopted by the Council of December 2008, and put to the Council, as quickly as possible, a list of the grounds which member states could cite so that they could use this right with the necessary legal certainty with regard both to the EU Treaty and to WTO rules. To sum up, the Commission has once again been asked to do what the Council already asked of it on 14 October (see EUROPE 10236). Only a few member states (France, Germany, Poland and Spain), forming a blocking minority, were completely opposed to the continuation of discussions.
Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli assured delegations that he would provide Council with a non-exhaustive list of grounds that could be invoked (other than health and environmental) in February. He also said, without giving a precise date, that Council demands on reviewing EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) guidelines on environmental risk assessment of GMOs would be met by the start of 2011 as EFSA had already submitted its proposals on this issue. Delegations repeated demands to have a report on the socio-economic impact of GMO crops would also be met, the commissioner said. The incoming Hungarian Presidency also gave assurances that it would continue discussions, much to the commissioner's satisfaction.
In reporting on the state of play on the issue, outgoing Council President Joke Schauvliege said: “The majority of delegations want to continue to clarify the legal points. A still larger majority want to continue but only subject to certain conditions. A blocking minority does not want to discuss this proposal”. Dalli replied that his assessment was “much more positive”. He added that he was pleased that the 2008 conclusions did not form a precondition for the continuation of talks.
The commissioner stated that the Commission “does not share the view of the Council legal department”, in whose view the proposal ran counter to the Treaty and to WTO rules (see EUROPE 10252). “The legal basis is the right one, and Parliament shares our view. The Council has left the way open for a compromise. We will clarify things”, he said. The non-exhaustive list of ethical grounds and societal and traditional factors will be presented to the Council ad hoc group on 11 February 2011. Certain that the Commission proposal is the “correct response to break the current political deadlock”, Dalli pointed out that a growing number of regions were declaring themselves “GMO-free”, that a WTO panel had, in 2006, attacked the safeguard measures put in place by some member states and that 13 members had asked to be allowed to opt-out of current GMO legislation. The reason the Commission brought forward this proposal was to give a legal basis for coming to a decision, he stated. He told press that there would be no freezing of the authorisation procedures that were currently going through, despite the one million signature citizens' petition recently handed in to him by NGOs Avaaz and Greenpeace.
French minister Nathalie Koisciusko-Morizet was straight to the point: “For France, it is out of the question to continue talks until significant and tangible progress has been achieved. Priority must be given to the pursuit and full implementation of the Council conclusions of December 2008 which
paved the way for improvement. France wants a harmonised solution and opposes any continued discussion”. (A.N./transl.rt)