Compromise in sight on GM crops
An agreement on authorising genetically-modified crops may be within reach following a shift in position by Germany
Greece, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union’s Council of Ministers, is hopeful that an elusive agreement on a future framework for authorising genetically-modified (GM) crops in Europe can be agreed this year, following signals that Germany might accept a compromise.
Barbara Hendricks, Germany’s new centre-left environment minister, told her counterparts from other EU member states on Monday (3 March) that her government would consider a proposal drawn up by Greece that would allow member states to impose national bans on GM crops that had been authorised at EU level for cultivation.
Germany has been part of a blocking minority resisting a 2010 proposal from the European Commission that sought to break the deadlock by allowing member states to introduce national bans. But member states fear the proposal will not survive legal scrutiny at EU or World Trade Organization (WTO) level.
Germany’s regional governments are divided on the subject, and the federal government has not been able to agree a unified position. “That’s part of our task within the German government, to achieve clarity,” Hendricks said. “But we should be able to decide before June when the European Council will ultimately make this decision.”
A switch by Germany could ensure a qualified majority in the Council in support of the Greek compromise which would introduce the national bans through derogations. This is considered to be more legally secure than the Commission’s initial proposal.
An alternative proposal from France was rejected by environment ministers on Monday. That proposal would have introduced a two-tier system of authorisation, one at EU level and one at national level. Such a system already exists in the EU for pesticides. However, most ministers said the French proposal would mean restarting work on the file. Tonio Borg, the European commissioner for health, said: “‘It is not time to take a new bus, it’s time to board the one we have.”
Yannis Maniatis, the Greek minister for the environment, said after the meeting: “We got a strong mandate, almost unanimous, to move forward with the new compromise proposal of the presidency in order to reach a political agreement as soon as possible.”
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The Greek government will host a meeting of experts on the new draft on 13 March, to prepare for the European Council in June. A deal with member states could then be hammered out before the end of the year.