www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Europe today stands at a crossroad, facing challenges but also
opportunities. In its intent to make Europe a leading technology based
economy by 2010, the European Commission has identified biotechnology and
genomics as fields for future growth, crucial for supporting the
agricultural and food processing industry, April 2006.


Since first commercialization in 1996, GM crop areas have grown at double
digit rates, making this one of the most rapidly adopted technologies in
agriculture. However, in contrast to other world areas and despite European
Commission support, Europe has found itself 'bogged-down' in a polemic
between opponents and supporters of plant biotechnology. As a result,
planted areas have remained small.

This stalemate is due to a lack of political leadership, especially at the
Member State level, all the more surprising in light of European early
development and competitive advantage with crop biotechnology.

This situation proves once again that, for cutting-edge innovations, a solid
science base alone is not suffcient. Acceptance or rejection of new
technologies depends on interlinked political, economic, and societal
factors that create a favorable or unfavorable situation at a given time.

This article will look at GM crops in Europe and the role science and
politics have played in the introduction of crop biotechnology.

[www.agbioworld.org]

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