The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the EU Parliament approved a proposal by the EU Commission that would allow EU member States to ban the cultivation of GM crops on their territory, amending the proposal to include environmental grounds as the basis for such bans.
12 April 2011: The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament amended a proposal by the EU Commission that will allow EU member States to restrict or ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crop varieties, on environmental grounds.
The Commission, which would amend the current GMO Directive, provides a list of grounds that EU States can invoke to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GM crops that have been approved at EU level on their territories. The Committee proposed that environmental or agricultural concerns, such as pesticide resistance, invasiveness of GM crops, or the need to maintain biodiversity, be added to the list.
The Committee also considered that socioeconomic impacts could provide legitimate grounds for a ban, and that long-term cumulative effects to health and the environment should be assessed. The European Parliament Plenary is expected to vote on the proposal in June 2011. [EU Parliament Press Release]