MEPs vote to firm up national bans on GM crops in Europe | Environment | The Guardian:
MEPs voted on Tuesday to allow national bans on genetically modified food crops for environmental reasons, even if the EU has already approved them for cultivation.
Under current bloc rules, GM crops can be cultivated after a satisfactory risk assessment by the European Food Safety Authority but several countries wanted stronger rights to block crops under the principle of ‘subsidiarity’, or devolution of powers to nation states. Some cited concerns over contamination from GM crops, others flagged scientific uncertainties.
A European Commission compromise proposal which would have prevented national GM bans on grounds of environmental or health concerns was amended, after securing support from just one political bloc: the European Conservatives and Reformists, whose largest member is the UK Conservative Party.
The commission’s compromise with pro-GM countries such as the UK and Spain, would have allowed countries a two-year window in which they could ban individual GM crops for reasons such as planning and agricultural objectives.
European countries look like they will be able to enact national bans on
the growing of GM crops. Photograph: RESO/REX FEATURES/RESO/REX
FEATURES
