Brussels, 27/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On ice for a year and a half, the European Commission's proposal of July 2010 to allow the member states to limit or ban on their territory the cultivation of GMOs authorised in the EU will be relaunched with a ministerial exchange of views at the Environment Council on Monday 3 March (see EUROPE 11021 and 11020).
The ministers will be called upon to take position on a compromise of the Greek Presidency on this proposed regulation amending Directive 2001/18/EC (which lays down the authorisation procedure) to give the member states the option to opt out, as long as the grounds they invoke are not related to health or the environment. Readers may recall that, in first reading in 2011, the European Parliament added to this list of reasons, for instance with secondary environmental grounds.
The compromise of the Greek Presidency is almost the same as the last compromise under the Danish Presidency, which came up against a blocking minority (Germany, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom) in June 2012, which was insurmountable at the time. The United Kingdom is now ready to work on the basis of this proposal. The ministers will be asked to state whether discussion within the Council working group can continue on this basis. Under the compromise, it would be the petitioner (the company wishing to obtain authorisation to cultivate a GMO) which would designate the member states in which it wishes to cultivate the crop. If a designated member state opposes the cultivation and the petitioner refuses to take this opposition on board, the country in question could then ban cultivation on its territory. “This system puts the member states face-to-face with the petitioners”, a diplomat said on Thursday.
French proposal. The French delegation will submit its own proposal, which will focus on obtaining legal security for the member states in the event of an opt out (see EUROPE 11021 and 11018). This proposal aims to rework the authorisation system for GMOs in the EU in favour of a two-stage system - European level and national level - taking its inspiration from the system in place for the authorisation of pesticides. It would mean that the risk assessment would remain a matter for EFSA. In the event of a favourable assessment, the GMO would be included on a European positive list, which would authorise commercialisation of the GMO in the EU, but not its cultivation. The cultivation authorisation would be a matter for national competency, under the principle of subsidiarity. On the basis of EFSA's risk assessment, the petitioner would submit its authorisation request, and the member state in question could call for an additional assessment, focusing on socio-economic risks and local risks, amongst other things. (AN)