Greenpeace media briefing

12 January 2015

EU Parliament to adopt new GM crop national opt-out law

On Tuesday, the European Parliament is expected to adopt a new law allowing EU countries to ban
the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops. The law is expected to come into force in the
coming weeks, after rubberstamping by European ministers.
Greenpeace is concerned that biotech companies will have a central role in the banning process
and that EU countries could be exposed to legal challenges. This briefing explains the content of the
new law and its likely consequences.
Greenpeace EU agriculture policy director Marco Contiero said: This new law is supposed to give
countries some legal muscle to prevent GM crops from being grown on their territory. But it has some major
flaws: it grants biotech companies the power to negotiate with elected governments and excludes the
strongest legal argument to ban GM crops evidence of environmental harm.
The new law amends Directive 2001/18 on the deliberate release into the environment of GM crops.
Countries are given two options to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GM crops in all or part of their
territory:
1. Governments can put a request to the company applying for an authorisation for GM cultivation to
exclude their territory from the geographical area covered by the authorisation. The request will have
to be submitted within 45 days from the publication of the safety assessment report conducted by the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). However, the company seeking an authorisation has the right
to refuse the request.
2. Alternatively, governments can decide to ban the cultivation of a single GM crop or a group of GM
crops, defined by crop (e.g maize) or trait (e.g herbicide-resistant crops), on their national territory. The
ban will have to be based on grounds such as:
(a) environmental policy objectives;
(b) town and country planning;
(c) land use;
(d) socio-economic impacts;
(e) avoidance of GM crop presence in other products;
(f) agricultural policy objectives;
(g) public policy.
The first option, in which governments negotiate directly with companies, was introduced following strong
lobbying by the UK government. This option appeals to GM companies since it discourages broader national
GM bans.
The biotech industry has fought to prevent countries from using scientific arguments to ban GM crops,
related to national environmental impacts and risks. At the same time, pro-GM crop lobbyists condemn the
new law for not setting up a science-based banning process.
Following the adoption of the new law, a number of countries, particularly those where GM crops are
currently banned (i.e. Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Luxembourg),
are expected to uphold their bans. It remains to be seen whether they will do this by enacting national bans
or whether they will prefer to negotiate with GM companies to exclude their territories from authorisation
requests.

Shortcomings of the new opt-out law

Greenpeace is concerned that the new law will not provide countries with a legally solid right to ban GM
crops, because it prevents EU governments from using environmental concerns as a justification for a ban.
According to the law, the grounds that governments can use to justify a ban shall, in no case, conflict with
the environmental risk assessment carried out by EFSA. In other words, governments are prevented from
basing national bans on specific national environmental impacts or risks posed by GM crops, even if those
impacts or risks were not part of EFSAs safety assessment.
Excluding environmental concerns from the list of reasons to ban GM crops could have serious
consequences. EU treaties make it very difficult for countries to restrict the circulation of goods in the
internal market, except based on health and environmental concerns. Banning GM crop cultivation in
certain countries would obviously limit free circulation.
Next steps
Last year, European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker promised a review of the EU decisionmaking process for GM crop authorisations. The announcement followed criticism of current EU rules by
several European governments, most notably on the Commissions power to approve GM crops despite
opposition by a majority of EU countries. In February 2014, 19 governments rejected a Commission plan to
authorise the cultivation of a GM maize (Pioneers 1507), but the Commission is set to nonetheless approve
the crop in 2015. Despite this long-standing blockage, the Commission has now excluded the approval of
GM crops for cultivation from the review of EU rules, restricting it only to authorisations for GM crops for
imports and use as food and animal feed.
Contacts:
Marco Contiero, Greenpeace EU agriculture policy director: +32 (0)477 77 70 34 (mobile),
marco.contiero@greenpeace.org
Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace EU communication manager: +32 (0)2 274 1915,
luisa.colasimone@greenpeace.org
This media briefing is also available on www.greenpeace.eu
For breaking news and comment on EU affairs: www.twitter.com/GreenpeaceEU
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and
behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace. Greenpeace does not accept
donations from governments, the EU, businesses or political parties.