Brussels, 12/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - Responding cautiously to the Commission proposal to give member states the power to restrict or ban within their borders crops of EU-approved GMOs, the European Parliament (EP) environment committee, chaired by Jo Leinen (S&D, Germany) elected to bring amendments on first reading to strengthen the text, rather than simply rejecting it.
Following the lead of their rapporteur, Corinne Lepage (ALDE, France), MEPs on the committee voted by 34 votes to 10, with 16 abstentions, to give member states greater powers to exercise their right to ban GM crops. They also amended the legal basis of the proposed legislation to give precedence to environmental concerns. “This vote is a clear signal from the Parliament to the Council and Commission: the EU authorisation system has to be retained while acknowledging that certain agri-environmental effects and contamination-related socio-economic effects may be used by member states to justify banning GMO crops within their borders. This proposal will give them a more solid legal basis for such action, one of the Council's main concerns”, Lepage commented.
Under the terms of the proposal as amended by the EP environment committee, member states will be able to cite potential environmental effects, such as resistance to pesticides, the invasiveness of GM crops and the need to maintain biodiversity, to justify banning growing GMO crops; socio-economic impacts may also be used to justify a national ban when contamination risks cannot be managed or to protect conventional or organic crops. All member states will be required to adopt binding measures to prevent GMO contamination and, if these measures fail to achieve their aim, governments will have to ensure that those responsible for the contamination pay the damages bill. Biotechnology companies will be required to allow access to material needed to carry out an independent investigation of GMO-related risks. MEPs also called for an assessment of the combined long-term effects of GMO crops on health and on the environment.
Greenpeace has welcomed this vote where “the voice of reason has prevailed”. Highlighting that “effects on the environment are a major danger from genetically modified crops”, the NGO said that the right to use these reasons was “crucial to give national bans legal solidity”. The EP will vote on the text before summer, probably on 7 June. (A.N./transl.rt)