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The European Union member states agreed on a plan to renationalize decisions
of GM crops cultivation. In 2010, the European Commission proposed to let
individual member states to ban or allow a GM crop in their territory, while
the commission would still give marketing approvals for European countries
based on the scientific opinion released by European Food Safety Authority
(EFSA). That proposal was revived in February 2014 when states debated over
the approval of a GM maize line. Twenty six of the 28 member states agreed
on this "cultivation proposal" on June 12, as practical compromise. In the
coming months, Europe's Council of Ministers must agree on a joint version
of the plan with the incoming European Parliament before the final text can
be adopted, possibly in 2015.

EuropaBio released a statement expressing the biotech industry's dismay
about the agreement. "To renationalize a common EU policy, based on
non-objective grounds, is a negative precedent and contrary to the spirit of
the single market," said André Goig, Chair of EuropaBio. "In particular, it
would allow Member States to formally reject a technology on non-scientific
grounds, which sets a dangerous precedent and sends a negative signal for
innovative industries considering whether or not to operate in Europe,"
added Mr. Goig. "In the end it should be up to farmers to decide what they
want to plant in their fields."

[news.sciencemag.org] and [www.europabio.org]