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janrinok writes:

Angering both sides of a fractious debate, the European Union's member states agreed today on a plan allowing individual countries to refuse to plant E.U.-sanctioned genetically modified (GM) crops [sciencemag.org].

Many European consumers and national governments have voiced strong concerns about GM foods, with sharp divisions across the bloc hampering regulatory decisions. "The current system for approving GM crops doesn't work, either for those who wish to cultivate GM crops or for those who don't," said Rupert Ponsonby, U.K. parliamentary Undersecretary of State for natural environment and science, at a meeting of the Council of the European Union environment ministers in Luxembourg today.

To avoid lengthy deadlocks, the European Commission proposed in 2010 to let individual member states ban a given crop on their territory, while the commission would still grant pan-European marketing approvals based on the European Food Safety Authority's scientific opinion. That proposal, which had been stalled by disagreements among member states, was revived earlier this year when states debated approval of an unpopular GM maize line. Out of 28 member states, 26 agreed on this "cultivation proposal" today as a practical compromise.

Under the proposal, member states could opt out before or after cultivation approval is granted. After approval, they could ban a GM crop from their land for national planning or socioeconomic reasons, for example. Businesses are concerned that this will set a "very bad precedent," says Beat Spath, director for agricultural biotechnology at the industry association EuropaBio in Brussels. "It's quite worrying to our industry that products can now be banned based on soft, unpredictable reasons."

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