Bonn accused of sinking hopes of deal on GMOs

Date: 03/06/1999

By Simon Coss

THE German presidency has deliberately put forward an unacceptable plan for updating the rules for authorising genetically modified crops to avoid having to broker a deal, claim European Commission officials.

Peter Jorgensen, spokesman for Acting Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard, says he is "flabbergasted" at Berlin's latest plans for revising the 1990 directive (90/220), which sets out the approval procedures for all new crops and seeds containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

" They have deliberately put forward a report that will not be accepted so that they can end their presidency saying 'we tried to resolve this issue but other governments would not agree'," he claimed.

His attack came after Bonn officials floated the idea of setting up an agency within the Commission to handle all future GMO approvals, at a meeting of EU biotechnology experts last week. One Union official who was present said afterwards that "nobody was really enthusiastic about the idea".

Jorgensen argues that the German plan would undermine the spirit of the original proposals for updating 90/220 which were put forward by his boss last year. "This idea does not stand a snowball's chance in hell," he added.

One of the central tenets of Bjerregaard's plan was to reduce the role of Commission-backed committees in the approvals procedure and give democratic institutions such as the European Parliament and Council of Ministers a far greater say.

Jorgensen argues that setting up a new agency would have exactly the opposite effect. "This is a disaster for democracy," he said.

Insiders believe that Bonn is reluctant to take action on the GMOs issue for domestic political reasons. When it comes to genetically modified crops, the country's Green Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin is caught between a rock and a hard place.

He knows that he would face the wrath of his party if he brokered a deal which was favourable to the biotechnology industry, but also that he would anger his Socialist coalition partners in government if he came down too hard on the sector.

Many officials believe this is the reason why the debate over updating 90/220 has more or less ground to a halt over the past six months.

Meanwhile, the Commission is awaiting formal notification from the Austrian government of its decision to ban a strain of insect-resistant GM maize produced by global chemicals giant Monsanto.

Under current rules, EU governments can introduce temporary embargoes on GM crops which have been cleared for Union-wide sale and cultivation if they feel further tests are needed on the product.

Austria has invoked this right following a recent US study which found certain strains of insect-resistant maize can kill butterflies, but has not yet informed the Commission of its decision.

If it fails to do so, the Commission would be obliged to start legal proceedings against Vienna in the European Court of Justice - a course of action it is reluctant to take because it would almost certainly not win the support of other EU governments.