Malta joins member states querying GMO proposals

Malta is calling for more “clarity” on a proposed list of reasons EU governments could invoke to justify a ban on GMO cultivation.

The European Commission drew up the list in response to requests by governments sceptical of a proposal by Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli to allow member states to decide whether to allow GM crops to be cultivated in their territory.

In more than a decade, the EU has approved only two varieties and Mr Dalli is seeking to unblock the decision-making process.

The proposed criteria for a ban include public order, land use and social and economic reasons. Mr Dalli has admitted the list needed to be refined.

Speaking during a meeting of EU environment ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said Malta wanted the legal services of the European Council to give its opinion on the legality of the list. He said Malta doubted whether the Commission’s suggestions were in line with World Trade Organisation rules.

If there were to be a list, it should be broader so that the interests of small member states like Malta were taken into consideration. “In Malta’s case, the small size of our fields and their proximity may also be a criteria for banning GMO cultivation,” Dr de Marco told colleagues.

“The same applies to the high biodiversity index in small areas. Malta will not compromise its ecosystem’s gene pool through GMO cultivation,” he said.

Malta’s scepticism is in line with the majority of member states that oppose the flexibility proposal for a variety of reasons.

The UK became the latest member state to object. Farms Minister Caroline Spelman questioned whether Mr Dalli’s pro-posals would do anything to unblock the EU approval system for GM crops.

“The operation of the EU decision-making progress does need to be improved but we’re not convinced the proposal will enable this to happen,” Ms Spelman said.

Like Dr de Marco, she questioned the draft list of reasons governments could invoke to justify cultivation bans. “We’re concerned that suggesting public order as possible grounds for a ban could have the unintended consequence of actually encouraging public disorder by certain groups that want to put pressure on member states to ban GMOs.”

Ministers from France, Spain and Italy reiterated their opposition to the draft rules. The Hungarian EU presidency has pledged to clarify member states’ legal concerns in order to try and reach a compromise. According to the so-called weighted voting system, if four of the five largest countries oppose the proposed rules, it would be enough to block them.