Plaid Cymru the Party of Wales Deputy Leader Jill Evans MEP has highlighted the need for greater democracy in the European Union, which would enable the Parliament to reflect the public’s opposition to genetically modified food.
As the Parliament ratified the election of the European Commission President, the European Free Alliance / Greens group, which includes Plaid Cymru, expressed its concerns that the current political management of legislation hindered democracy.
Speaking from Strasbourg, Jill Evans MEP, who has led Plaid Cymru’s campaign to keep Wales GM free, said:
“The Group has sent letters to the new President of the Commission and the Parliament pointing out only nine out of 25 EU Member States are in favour of granting marketing licenses for new GMOs, and that more than 70% of Europe's citizens are opposed to GM food.
“We are asking that procedures be made more democratic and include a significant political role for the European Parliament. 36% of the Member States of the Union support GMOs, 36% oppose it and 28% abstain on making decisions.
“In spite of this, the Commission has lifted Europe's moratorium on new GMOs and has so far approved each new request to market GMOs in the EU that it has received. The fact that the Commission can make such decisions in the absence of Council agreement and without the backing of the Parliament is incompatible with the democratic ideals promoted by the Union.”
Ends
Full text of letters below.
Strasbourg, 22 July 2004
Mr José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission
Dear Mr President,
The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament would like to convey to you its worries about the current management of the dossiers concerning genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
We note that the last five years of the GMO moratorium, during which the European Union gained from the preparation of a number of legislative texts paving the way for the arrival of future GMOs on the market, have failed to convince European Agriculture and Environment Ministers to accept by a qualified majority the least controversial of the applications for marketing licenses for new GMOs. Like the Union of 15 before, the new Europe of 25 is deeply torn on the political consequences of accepting genetically modified foodstuffs or derivatives on its territory.
There is significance in the fact that the last European Agriculture Council on 19 July 2004 could not agree on a European Commission proposal (11068/04) to allow the marketing of food stemming from the genetically modified sweetcorn NK 603.
That meeting confirmed that 36% of the Member States of the Union support GMOs, 36% oppose it and 28% abstain on making decisions. These figures should be considered alongside the observation that between 70% and 80% of Europe's citizens are themselves opposed to GM food.
In the absence of a qualified majority within the Council and according to the comitology procedures in force, the Commission can, therefore, decide on its own on whether to approve this application for a new GMO marketing license.
The possibility that the Commission will alone decide to approve a license that the vast majority of European citizens reject and which is the subject of clear and recurring political division within the Council of Ministers, seems to us to be incompatible with the democratic ideals that the Union seeks to promote.
Mr President, with these political considerations in mind, we ask you to plead strongly with the Commission to revise the comitology procedures in order to make them more democratic and include a significant political role for the European Parliament. This proposal, furthermore, is within the spirit of the future European Constitution (Title III, Art. 35).
The Greens/EFA Group also wishes to draw your attention to the importance of the next decision that the Commission must take regarding the labelling of seeds. A proposal from the Environment Commissioner suggests that there is no need to attach the "GMO" label to seeds contaminated up to thresholds of 0.3% or 0.5%.
These thresholds are clearly too high. They will strongly mislead both conventional and organic farmers who may unintentionally sow GMO-contaminated seeds. We consider this to be politically contrary to the traceability obligations contained in the Directive 2001/18 and entirely contrary to the will of the European Parliament which, on 18 December 2003, adopted by a very large majority, a Resolution (Graefe zu Baringdorf Report, A5-0465/2003) relating to coexistence between GM and GM-free crops.
This is why we propose the adoption of a threshold of contamination of non-GMO seeds which is clearly lower than the proposed thresholds and conforms to the above Parliament Resolution.
Mr President, a qualified majority of European citizens oppose GM food, and each subsequent European Council on the issue confirms the absence of a majority of Member States in favour of GMOs. Considering this latter fact especially, we consider that it would be disastrous for the political and democratic credibility of the European institutions for your Commission to continue in its path towards opening Europe's market to GMOs without additional guarantees.
In the name of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament,
Daniel Cohn Bendit and Monica Frassoni
Strasbourg, 22 July 2004
Mr Josep Borrell, President of the European Parliament
Dear Mr President,
The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament would like to convey to you its worries about the current management of the dossiers concerning genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
We note that the last five years of the GMO moratorium, during which the European Union gained from the preparation of a number of legislative texts paving the way for the arrival of future GMOs on the market, have failed to convince European Agriculture and Environment Ministers to accept by a qualified majority the least controversial of the applications for marketing licenses for new GMOs. Like the Union of 15 before, the new Europe of 25 is deeply torn on the political consequences of accepting genetically modified foodstuffs or derivatives on its territory.
There is significance in the fact that the last European Agriculture Council on 19 July 2004 could not agree on a European Commission proposal (11068/04) to allow the marketing of food stemming from the genetically modified sweetcorn NK 603.
That meeting confirmed that 36% of the Member States of the Union support GMOs, 36% oppose it and 28% abstain on making decisions. These figures should be considered alongside the observation that between 70% and 80% of Europe's citizens are themselves opposed to GM food.
In the absence of a qualified majority within the Council and according to the comitology procedures in force, the Commission can decide on its own on whether to approve this application for a new GMO marketing license.
The possibility that the Commission will alone decide to approve a license that the vast majority of European citizens reject and which is the subject of clear and recurring political division within the Council of Ministers, seems to us to be incompatible with the democratic ideals that the Union seeks to promote.
Mr President, with these political considerations in mind, we ask you to support our proposal to ask the Commission to revise the comitology procedures in order to make them more democratic and include a significant political role for the European Parliament. This proposal, furthermore, is within the spirit of the future European Constitution (Title III, Art. 35).
Lastly, on the subject of the role of the Parliament as a democratic representative of the citizens of the Union, we consider that demands emerging from civil society regarding GMOs cannot be ignored. This is why we hope the Parliament can take the important step of declaring itself GM-FREE. In doing this it would adopt specifications requiring the no GMOs be present in the food intended for the European institutions.
Mr President, a qualified majority of European citizens oppose GM food, and each subsequent European Council on the issue confirms the absence of a majority of Member States in favour of GMOs. Considering this latter fact especially the European Parliament must show that it has understood the message sent by Europe's citizens and that it will work towards achieving what Europe wants.
In the name of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament,
Daniel Cohn Bendit and Monica Frassoni
