Brussels, 10/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission called on the Council of the EU to give approval on Tuesday 11 February to its proposal to authorise cultivation of the highly controversial genetically modified TC 1507 maize by the US company Pioneer Dupont in the EU. It also calls on the Council to allow member states, subject to very strict conditions, to restrict or ban on their territory GMOs that have been authorised in the EU (see EUROPE 11014). Tonio Borg, European Commissioner for Health, pointed out that the referral to the Council was “decreed by a European Court of Justice ruling” that identified that the Commission was responsible for a delay in the authorisation procedure. The commissioner stated: “I emphasise that the Court's decision on 1507 maize confirms the urgency of relaunching discussions on the Commission proposal of 2010. This proposal provides member states with more freedom to choose whether they want to restrict or ban GMO crops for reasons that are not health- or environment-related”.
It is clear that a majority on the Council is opposed to cultivation of TC 1507 maize but that it will not obtain the qualified majority required to reject cultivation and, if this is indeed the case, the Commission is determined to take the authorisation decision, despite the political opposition and the fact that member states do not believe that the pick and mix proposal for crops that was thrown out during the Danish Presidency in June 2012, thanks to a blocking minority, that was impossible to overcome (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia), is a panacea. (AN/transl.fl)