EU receives anti-GMO petition amid raging legal battle

EUObserver reports that environmental groups Greenpeace and Avaaz have handed the European Commission a petition in December 2010 with the signatures of over one million EU citizens, calling for a ban on GMO crops until a new scientific body is set up to assess their impact. Behind the scenes however, a battle is raging over the document's eligibility under the EU's new citizens' initiative procedure (ECI).

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Brussels says first ever citizens' petition does not count http://www.europeansources.info/record/brussels-says-first-ever-citizens-petition-does-not-count/

Greenpeace: European Unit: Press Release, 9.12.10: First European Citizens’ Initiative delivered to Commissioner Dalli http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/press-centre/press-releases2/first-citizens-initiative

---