EU proposal on genetically modified crops satisfies no one

Individual EU states would have almost free rein to ban genetically-modified crops under a proposal unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday, in a move Brussels said was an attempt to meet public demands to rid Europe of bioengineered food.

Under the proposal, any European country could opt out of an EU decision authorising the cultivation of a strand of genetically-modified seed even if EU scientific advisers determined it was safe for growing and consumption. National governments would be able to cite non-scientific reasons - such as socio-economic or land-use policies - to bar cultivation.

"The commission has listened to the concerns of many European citizens, reflected in the positions expressed by their national governments," said Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EU's health commissioner.

The EU has struggled for years to design a policy that matches demands from large agricultural groups and countries, such as Britain, Spain and the Netherlands, who want to foster such agrotechnologies to pursue a science-based evaluation of the risks, against objections from environmental and consumer groups, and states such as France and Austria, who want such seeds banned outright.

Two years ago, US agricultural giant Monsanto withdrew all its applications for approval of genetically-modified seeds because of the continuing stand-off. To date, only one bioengineered crop, a Monsanto strand of maize, has been commercially cultivated in the EU. Most of it is grown in Spain.

Although Mr Andriukaitis presented the plan as a voter-friendly compromise, it was immediately criticised by agricultural groups, who argued it violated the EU rules regulating its common market, and environmental organisations, who said the decision did not go far enough.

Greenpeace's EU unit said the policy would still allow Brussels to authorise the import of bioengineered seeds even if a majority of national governments and the European Parliament objected.

It warned that the EU's internal market rules, which attempt to harmonise standards across the bloc, could supersede the plan if challenged in court.

"The commission is offering EU countries a fake right to opt out that won't stand up in any court," said Franziska Achterberg, Greenpeace's EU food policy director. Commission officials acknowledged that national governments would have to prove "overriding reasons of public interest" in court to defeat a challenge to any bans that they imposed.

British Conservatives in the European Parliament called the decision a "cave-in" and said any decision should be left to scientific evaluation.

"It is a dark day when the EU's executive is happy to sit by and watch its own basic freedoms, trade commitments, farmers and consumers suffer while ignoring the scientific advice that taxpayers themselves are paying for," said Julie Girling MEP, the Tory spokeswoman on environmental issues in the European Parliament.

Significantly, the new legislation could further complicate already contentious negotiations between the EU and US over a free-trade deal. US negotiators had hoped liberalisation of GMO foods could be part of the agreement, and have joined with other countries to warn Brussels that such a plan could violate the EU's obligations in the World Trade Organization.

The proposal must be approved by national ministers and the European Parliament before it goes into force.

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