EU-ministers cannot agree on GM approvals
Environment ministers from the EU met in Brussels to debate a Danish compromise designed to break a deadlock in approvals for genetically modified (GM) crop, but governments failed to agree to a proposition to let them individually decide whether to grow or ban GM plants.
“There were some countries saying that the time is not right for Europe right now, that Europe wasn’t ready,” Danish Environment Minister Ida Auken said after the meeting.
The Danish compromise plan proposed companies seeking EU approval to cultivate a GM crop to not market the product in countries that do not want to grow it, in return for approval to grow the crops in others.
The proposition was overruled due to rules requiring uniformity in law among member countries.
Ten member states, including the UK, Germany, Spain and France, declined support for the Dane’s compromise proposals.
The main reasons for opposing were:
- The lack of legal certainty for Member States wishing to ban GM crops.
- The proposals would break the EU internal market.
- Failure to deal with outstanding legal and procedural issues raised by the Environment Council in 2008, including GM contamination thresholds in seeds.
Join 26,000+ subscribers
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated about all the need-to-know content in the feed sector, three times a week.
