Brussels, 07/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - People will be holding their breath at the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 11 February where there will be a ministerial debate and a vote on the controversial draft European Commission legislation to authorise the highly controversial genetically modified organism, TC 1507, produced by company Pioneer Dupont (see EUROPE 11012). This will be the moment of truth because ministers will vote, by qualified majority, on whether to accept or reject the legislation as the deadline set for a Council decision fast approaches. If they do not reach agreement, the Commission will itself authorise the maize, which is resistant to some insect.
It is virtually certain that the delegations will not achieve the qualified majority needed (260 of the 352 votes), although the opponents have grown in number since the committee vote in 2009 (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovakia). Voting intentions at Coreper on 5 February were inconclusive on 5 February and the Greek Presidency does not have high hopes.
A close source said on Friday that there was no qualified majority either in favour or against at Coreper, adding that it was unlikely that any member state would change its position. Several member states called for a debate and the Presidency had to comply. Focus will be on TC 1507 maize, but some member states will expand the debate. Germany's official position, which is not yet known, though it might abstain, will not alter things.
France is virulent in its opposition to this genetically-modified maize because there is no plan to monitor the effect on butterflies and moths and wants the GMO authorisation process to be overhauled in the EU. France is bound to make its opposition clear. On Friday, the Greek Presidency had not yet decided whether the more general debate about GMOs demanded by a number of delegations (Denmark, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg, for example) would be added to the agenda of the Environmental Council on 3 March or of another Council meeting. (AN/transl.fl)