Brussels, 22/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Barroso Commission is aware of the concerns about genetically modified organisms- especially when it comes to growing them- with consumers and various political decision-makers at national or regional level, but it is not going to change its approach to GMOs. The first exploratory debate of the College on this highly sensitive issue (yesterday's EUROPE, p.13) has convinced the Commission of the quality of the new regulatory framework in force in the EU. It will therefore act to get safeguard measures invoked by eight Member States lifted and continue to include new varieties of GM seeds in the common catalogue, as well as with its authorisations to market them under the procedures in place. This in spite of the Commission's acknowledgement that under the comitology procedure applicable for the approval of products, none of the thirteen proposals it has presented got the required qualified majority from the Member States for the authorisation decision to be made under their competency. The Commission also intends to step up its work coordinating national measures on the coexistence of crops and will only consider additional measures on the basis of an implementation report for national measures, which are anticipated for the end of the year. Therefore, no legislative initiative at this stage. The Commission will continue its work setting tolerance thresholds for the accidental presence of GMOs in seeds which are not supposed to contain any.
The exchange of views was steered by a communication by President Barroso, in association with Commissioners Mandelson (Trade), Fischer Boel (Agriculture), Dimas (Environment), Kyprianou (Health, Consumers), Verheugen (Industry) and Potocnik (Research), taking an overview of the political context, the regulatory framework the constant rift between the Member States and complaints to the WTO. The Commission states: “As guardian of the Treaty, the Commission must continue to fulfil its legal obligations and implement Community legislation. The regulatory framework has only recently entered into force and is recognised as one of the strictest in the world. It provides a high level of scientific assessment and safeguards the consumers' right to choose”. At play here are directive 2001/18/EC on the dissemination of GMOs into the environment, which entered into force in October 2002, regulation 1829/2003 on genetically modified food for animals or humans and regulation 1830/2003 on the traceability and labelling of GMOs, both of which entered into force in April 2004.
“The aim of this exchange of views was not to reopen discussions on GMOs but to inform the Commission about authorisation procedures and the responsibilities upon it when it looks at individual cases, which it will have to do before long”, spokesperson Françoise Le Bail told the press. Why is the Commission not planning a solution to bypass the problem of comitology, which has shown that it has limits? “The Commission has not sought to call the existing system into question”, she replied.