October 28, 2015
Brussels

Today, the European Parliament rejected an ill-conceived Commission proposal on GM crop imports for use as food and feed, and called for a new proposal. Greenpeace welcomes this decision because the Commission’s plan would have failed to provide additional protection of European citizens and the environment from the risks posed by GM crops.

The Commission had wanted to give national governments a theoretical right to ban GM crops approved for use as food and feed in the EU. However, these national bans would have been impossible to defend in court against the EU’s internal market rules because the Commission ruled out health or environmental concerns as legitimate justifications for an opt-out. Despite the rejection by a large majority of MEPs, the Commission said it would maintain its proposal.

Franziska Achterberg, Greenpeace EU food policy director, said: “Today’s vote is a resounding ‘no’ to the Commission’s plan to give EU governments a fake right to stop the use of GM food and animal feed on their territory . The Juncker Commission has promised to make the GM approval process more democratic, but failed to reform the authorisation rules. Instead, it retained its disproportionate powers to approve GM crops on the basis of incomplete risk assessments and against widespread public and political opposition”.

As part of his Political Guidelines for the new Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker had promised to make the EU rules for GM crop authorisations more democratic, so the Commission would no longer push through GM crops against a ‘clear majority’ of EU member states. The Parliament reminded President Juncker today that he has yet to deliver on this commitment.

Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman about the Commission’s failure to disclose the policy options considered in preparation of the rejected proposal. The Commission’s secrecy has contributed to the Parliament’s decision to reject the draft, argued Greenpeace.