Brussels, 10/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - MEPs who requested an explanation from the Commission to provide them with an explanation about the latter's repeated attempts to force reluctant member states to accept genetically modified MON 810 maize produced by Monsanto, were not supported by the European Parliament. The Greens/EFA request that a Commission declaration be included in the plenary session agenda, together with a vote on a resolution on the subject, was rejected by a very large majority (38 in favour, 111 against) on Monday 9 March in Strasbourg. The request from the PES for a simple declaration from the Commission on the same question was also thrown out (82 votes for, 102 against).
The hopes of the Greens/EFA have therefore been scuppered, together with the motion of censure they threatened the Commission with, which was accused of, “imposing the authorisation of GMO crops in the EU, although they are immensely controversial subjects”. This threat was made on 5 March, following the most recent attempt by the European Commission to force Austria and Hungary to repeal their safeguard measures temporarily preventing the cultivation on their territory of this GMO legally authorised in the EU.
With the Environment Committee robustly refusing that these two member states be forced to act (EUROPE 9852), Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni, co-presidents of the Greens/EFA group addressed a letter to the presidents of the other political groups at the parliament and the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, expressing their concerns with regard to this pro-GMO policy and to inform them about their project, “the Council rejected by qualified majority the proposal to lift the bans in Hungary and Austria on the authorisation of the GMO maize variety MON810. On two previous occasions (2006 and 2007), when asking for lifting of bans, you have received similar signals of caution from a majority of Member States based on qualified doubts about impacts of the cultivation of GMO varieties on public health, biodiversity and farming”. The two co-presidents criticised Barroso for having, “deliberately chosen to exert even greater pressure to promote GMO crops in the EU despite the very clearly expressed opposition by the majority of citizens defying the objections raised by your own Commissioners responsible for this dossier”. They added that the Greens/EFA would attempt to submit a motion of censure against the Commission if the latter did not respect the decisions made by the December 2008 Environment Council, which called for reforms to the way GMO environmental risk was calculated by EFSA or if the Commission did not make a commitment to take certain measures, including a moratorium on new GMO varieties that do not fulfil required criteria. The European Parliament has subsequently snuffed out the germ of this minority initiative. (A.N./trans/rh)