Ministers to vote on new GM cultivation

March 07, 2020 / By mobanmarket

Ministers to vote on new GM cultivation

EU ministers meeting today in Brussels must take a decision for or against a genetically modified maize.

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Ministers meeting at a general affairs council in Brussels today (11 February) must take a decision for or against the cultivation of new genetically modified maize in the European Union.

The European Council has been deadlocked on authorising any new GM crops, as states who are pro- and anti-GM are evenly divided. But in September the European Court of Justice ruled that the EU had unreasonably delayed a decision on DuPoint Pioneer 1507. The application had been submitted in 2001.

Responding to the ruling, the European Commission formally requested that member states take a decision. That decision is due by tomorrow (12 February). 

If the ministers cannot reach a qualified majority for or against the application, the Commission will be legally bound to accept it.

Tonio Borg, European commissioner for health, had asked that environment ministers meeting in December take a vote on that issue. However Lithuania, which at that time held the rotating presidency of the Council of Ministers, said there was no possibility of an agreement.

Yesterday Borg appealed to member states to act, and reminded them that a 2010 Commission proposal to allow some EU countries to ban GM while others cultivate it is still awaiting approval. “The Court’s decision on maize 1507 confirms the urgency of re-launching discussions on the cultivation proposal made by the Commission back in 2010,” he said.

Although a majority of EU countries oppose GM, there will probably not be enough votes to get a qualified majority today, according to Council sources. Nor will there be a qualified majority to reject the proposal. But the Commission has indicated that if a ‘predominant majority’ of member states were to vote against the proposal, it would try to find a way to avoid an approval.

France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Malta, Luxembourg, Greece, Romania and Hungary have all signalled their opposition. The UK, Sweden, Finland, Spain and Estonia are in favour of an approval, while Germany has suggested it will abstain.

Anti-GM campaigners are leaning on the abstaining countries to take a position. “The approval of this crop would be utterly irresponsible and legally flawed,” said Marco Contiero, an agricultural adviser for campaign group Greenpeace. “The EU’s own safety testing has shown that it is harmful to butterflies and moths and that there are still significant gaps in safety testing.”