EU Ministers take Aim at Biotech Approvals Policy
Date: 10-Mar-06
Country: BELGIUM
Author: Jeremy Smith
All those authorisations have been issued by the European Commission, using a legal default procedure that kicks in when EU governments repeatedly fail to agree after a given period of time, within the bloc's complex weighted voting system.
In many cases, more than half of the EU-25 has opposed the approval. But that simple majority is not enough, since EU rules require a weighted majority to approve or reject a GMO approval.
The weighting depends on a country's size and economic power, among other factors.
"It doesn't do much for democratic legitimacy if the European Commission approves specific GMOs even in the face of objections from a majority of member states," Danish Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard said in a public debate on GMO policy.
"This procedure does not seem to be able to make the wishes of a majority of member states possible. There is a big majority against GMOs in public opinion," Stavros Kaloyannis, Greece's state environment secretary, told the EU ministers.
Several countries called for the GMO voting system to be changed, saying authorisations should only be issued if a clear majority of EU states were in favour. Changing the system is no easy task, since it also applies to several other policy areas.
Despite the EU ending its blockade on new GMO products, the bloc's 25 governments are still deeply divided on the merits and disadvantages of GMO foods. The WTO verdict on EU policy seems to have done little to change that long-standing stalemate.
Debates on biotech policy are always heated and usually split into a clear "pro" and "anti" camp. Neither can muster enough support to approve or reject a new approval, ensuring deadlock. More and more countries choose to sit on the fence.
Britain, Finland and the Netherlands always vote in favour, while Austria, Greece and Luxembourg are consistently opposed.
FOOD AGENCY UNDER FIRE
Several ministers called for increased transparency in GMO policy, and more national government and public involvement, to raise confidence in EU decision-making among consumers. Polls show more than 70 percent of Europeans oppose biotech foods.
"We need credibility, trust from the public for our authorisation procedure," said Humberto Rosa, state environment secretary for Portugal. "We need more transparency ... otherwise it will be very difficult to regain public confidence."
Europe's leading food safety agency EFSA, which conducts scientific risk assessments of GMO products awaiting approval, was accused of not taking independent and national studies into account, and of not allowing proper access to its research.
This is not the first time EFSA, set up in 2002, has drawn fire on its GMO reports, mainly by green groups which say the agency shows repeated bias in favour of the biotech industry.
This view is hotly disputed by the industry itself, which says EFSA's independent work is being undermined by a small number of countries that oppose GMO crops on purely political, and not scientific, grounds.
"I am aware of the criticism that is being directed towards its (EFSA's) working procedures," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a news conference.
"It has only recently been established and, as for any large organisation, is still finding its feet," he said, adding that "certain changes may be beneficial".
