The European Union has been in a state of legislative impasse with respect to GMOs for over a year. Under a political agreement made in July 1999, the environment ministers of France, Luxembourg, Italy, Greece, and Denmark have refused to approve applications for commercial releases of GMO crops that come before the European Council (the national ministers). Constitutionally, the European Commission, in the absence of a decision from the Council, could now step in and approve the products, since the applications meet all the current requirements. However, the Commission is unwilling to take such a politically difficult decision, even though it runs the risk of legal action: companies whose applications are “on hold” could sue the Commission for delays to approvals, while trading partners such as the United States would have recourse to the World Trade Organization (Geneva).
The Commission put that “immediate approval” option, along with two others, to the Council before its July meeting in a document entitled “GMOs Issues Paper—Strategy on Possible Ways Forward.” The Commission's second option was to shelve all approvals until revised and more stringent European legislation on the release of genetically modified organisms came into force some time in 2002. The Commission's third and favored option—the “proactive approach”—however, is to act as if that tighter legislation is already in place. (Nat. Biotechnol. 18, 705)
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution