Brussels, July 5, 2011 – The European Parliament voted today for substantially improved rights of national governments to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in their territories.
Mute Schimpf, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “MEPs have today defended the right of European governments to ban genetically modified crops. The European Parliament is right to say that consumers, farmers and the environment should be better protected from GMOs and that all the impacts of growing GM crops must be taken into account in decision-making. This is a clear signal from MEPs that they are on the side of the majority of European citizens who oppose GM crops – it is now up to the European Commission and governments to make sure safeguards against GM crops are upheld.”
The decision on whether to give countries more rights to ban GM crops now goes to the European Council which is currently deadlocked on the issue.
The European Parliament voted in favour of:
- A stronger legal backing for national bans
- Mandatory liability systems for contamination cases
- Compulsory measures to prevent contamination in all EU countries
- National and regional level assessments of environmental risk – complementary to EU level assessment – with power to ban GM crops
