Mr President, Commissioner, this is an own-initiative report tabled by Parliament at the request of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. It is therefore not a response to a legislative proposal from the Commission. Rather, we feel that this matter requires action and that is why we have taken the trouble to draft this report. The report represents a compromise achieved through cooperation by all groups and one that has been adopted with overwhelming support by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. At this point, I would like to thank each of my co-rapporteurs: Mrs Schierhuber, Mrs Scheele, Mr Olsson, and Mr Garot. We have all sought to allow objectivity to rule while working on this Parliamentary task. Let me emphasise once again that this report does not ask whether genetic modification should be allowed. It focuses on coexistence. It has already been decided, in consultation with this House, that genetically modified organisms will exist and will be released. The question we are considering here is how there can be cooperation, coexistence, and freedom of choice both for farmers and for consumers, for that will become the issue if we release genetically modified organisms in plants or animals. Nature does often tend towards exchange – it will not make any allowances for genetically modified organisms. So, rather than concentrating on the fact that very soon there will be a release of genetically modified plants and animals, we now need to ensure there are GMO-free plants and animals to allow freedom of choice. That is what this report is about. We need to make sure that all procedures are clarified before they are implemented. The Commission has not put forward any legislative proposals to this end – instead guidelines have been proposed. We are now trying to implement those guidelines, as stated in the report. We call on the Commission to investigate the technical requirements, to consult scientific experts, and also to address the question of potential liability. The fact is that, while industry is perfectly entitled to make money, it cannot be allowed to do so if, lower down the chain, farmers are suing one another. There must be clarity. The reactions to this legislation indicate that some regions want to declare themselves GM-free, because they are concerned about the possibility of contamination between small plots – this relates to Article 26 of the release directive, introduced as a result of Parliament’s efforts, which states farmers must have the right to establish a GMO-free region provided they have established that food and feed with over 0.9% contamination will be labelled as genetically modified. All those who want to operate on the market – not just the organic holdings, which are legally required to be GM-free, but also large sections of conventional agriculture – see this as part of their market. They are fully entitled to do so. Everyone has to make their own choice on this matter, and we have to ensure that they can do so. This is why we are now proposing regulation for liability. I hope that a large majority in this House will approve this report tomorrow, that the Commission will then meet our expectations and that these questions about coexistence will be dealt with using the codecision procedure, as happened with the legislation on genetic modification. This will allow us to be included and use our expert knowledge – which is evident in this report – to come up with reasonable legislation that does not allow coexistence to become a Trojan horse. We do not want to fund ourselves a couple of years down the line concluding with regret that our approach has not worked. We need to guarantee the long-term nature of coexistence and freedom of choice for farmers and consumers. I hope that the Commission will take our work seriously and that we will soon have a legislative proposal on this subject for this House to discuss. One last thought: a key factor in this area is whether non-GM seed lines remain free of genetically modified organisms. There is no doubt that genetically modified seed will exist. We have legislation on the subject. However, we also need to ensure that GM-free seed exists. This, then, is the crux for coexistence. Our report places great emphasis on this point. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE