Brussels, 03/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, Friends of the Earth sharply criticised the European Commission's initiative for organising on 4-6 April in Vienna, a conference on the theme of co-existence of GM and non-GM farming. The environmental protection NGO accuses the Commission of only listening to industry and ignoring the position of the majority on this controversial subject. The press release pointed out that in the EU, twelve national bans exist on GM and 172 regions have affirmed that they want to be declared non-GM zones.
In Vienna the Commission is seeking to present its “Freedom of Choice” paper but Helen Holder of Friends of the Earth asked “Freedom of choice for whom?” According to Holder, the European Commission appears determined to “allow genetically modified crops regardless of whether they contaminate our foods and countryside…It is not too late for them to make a u-turn and put the welfare of the public before the interests of the biotech industry”.