The council of EU ministers responsible for the environment reached
agreement this week on the topic of ?green gene technology?. In contrast to
indications by some Member States, no fundamental changes will be made to
the approval process for genetically modified plants in the EU.

In their decision, the ministers emphasised that the existing legal
requirements applied to gene technology will not be modified and that GM
plants should continue to be approved ?without unreasonable delays?. The
on-going process, in which the currently applied guidelines on safety
assessments of GM plants are appraised and extended, should be intensified
and accelerated. The EU Commission already has assigned this task to the
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The decision of the environmental ministers provides guidance for this task
in the form of a series of specifications. These require better evaluation
of the possible long-term effects of GM plants on the environment, such as
the impact of Bt plants on bio-diversity. Furthermore, the regional
environmental qualities under which a new GM plant could be cultivated
should be more closely considered during the approval process.

Contrary to French demands, there will be no initial inclusion of
socio-economic criteria in the approval process of GM plants. To date, the
definition of such criteria remains controversial, as does the primary
question of their objective measurement on a scientific foundation. General
regional cultivation bans for approved GM plants also remain prohibited. As
in the past, gene-technology-free zones are possible only on the basis of
voluntary agreement.

Member States already may establish appropriate measures to protect nature
reserves or delicate ecosystems from possible adverse effects that may be
associated with specific GM plants. Planting restrictions are conceivable,
as is even the prohibition of cultivation in specific cases. However, the
environmental ministers stressed nonetheless that such measures must be
derived from scientifically sound environmental impact assessments.
www.checkbiotech.org