GM-food vetting irks EU ministers

Date: 02/03/06

Questions sent to ministers by the presidency ahead of the meeting ask governments to highlight any problems they see with the assessment procedures carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

EU environment ministers from all sides of the biotechnology debate are set to signal their unhappiness with the Union�s approval system for genetically modified crops and products (GMs) when they meet with a packed agenda next week (9 March).

As things stand, most GM-crop approval applications end up being rubber-stamped back at the European Commission, having failed to win the necessary votes for approval or rejection among ministers.

Denmark called for clarification in December of the Council of Ministers� position.

The Austrian government, currently holding the presidency of the EU, is openly critical of gene-altered crops. Vienna is currently being challenged by the Commission over its decision to ban the growth of GMs that have been approved at EU level.

Josef Pr�ll, Austria�s agriculture minister, has criticised the way the Union decides whether or not a GM is allowed.

The safety assessments carried out before a GM authorisation is proposed to member states are likely to be up for the most direct criticism.

They go on to ask whether "member states envisage proposals for improvement of the EFSA procedures".

Green groups in the past have accused EFSA of a bias in favour of the bio-tech industry because of its regular approvals of GM applications, based on scientific evidence.

Eric Gall of Greenpeace said the debate would "send a strong signal to the Commission that the risk assessment procedure has to be improved".

Simon Barber of the biotechnology umbrella group EuropaBio said it was "unfortunate Austria has apparently completely ignored the concept of looking at the benefits of GMs", after the Danish initiative "specifically to look at them".

As well as GMs, there are several other hot environmental topics up for scrutiny on the council�s 17-item agenda.

The meeting will be the first formal get-together for Europe�s environment ministers since Austria took over the EU presidency in January.

Environmental proposals were notoriously thin on the ground last year, but ministers on 9 March will also discuss two of the long-awaited "thematic strategies" that did emerge from the Commission in 2005.

A strategy on urban air pollution aims to cut emissions of pollutants linked to health problems and city smog.

The ministers are expected for the first time to adopt a formal position on the proposal, known as CAFE (Clean Air For Europe).

They will also debate a second thematic strategy, on recycling waste.

Both proposals were criticised as too weak when they came out last year.

A separate debate will be held on another proposal covering many of the same emissions as CAFE, this time specifically targeting road transport.

The Euro 5 proposal is the latest in a series of laws setting emission standards for new cars sold in Europe.

Ministers are also expected to welcome an international deal struck late last year to slash CO2 emissions. Governments meeting in Montreal in December 2005 agreed to continue the fight against climate change even when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

A draft version of the council climate-change conclusions says that Europe "is aware that the implementation of additional measures is needed to reach [its] Kyoto target", and stresses the need to "develop an efficient global emissions trading market".

Ministers will have to agree their position ahead of a summit meeting of EU heads of state on 23-24 March, the Spring European Council, which is likely to be dominated by talks on the idea of a common EU energy policy, including a section on the role played by renewable energy in Europe.

They will also adopt conclusions for a two-week conference on biodiversity, which opens on 13 March in Brazil and will debate the future of a 150-government agreement on sustainable growth, the UN convention on biological diversity.

The ministers will also consider a progress report on flood management proposals, plus conclusions on persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Under any other business, ministers will be treated to presentations on biomass, biofuels, water scarcity, biodegradable waste, chemicals management, �greening� events, and environmentally friendly travelling.

Article anticipates discussions of the EU's approval system for genetically modified crops and products at the Environment Council on 9 March 2006. The Austrian government, current holder of the Presidency of the EU, was openly critical of genetically modified crops.