WRITTEN QUESTION P-0608/04 by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. The Commission's political intentions re GMOs.
Date: 2004-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: common agricultural policy, environmental risk prevention, genetically modified organism, labelling, market approval, organic farming, polluter pays principle, producer's liability, seed

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3.4.2004

According to the provisions of Article 26.2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999
laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds (1), and with Article 13.2 and 13.3 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16 May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund (2), the Commission may
consult, where necessary, the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the appraisal of projects.

The EIB works as an independent consultant. The Commission is not involved in this process.

In the light of all the relevant information and analyses, the Commission will make its own assessment of
the project in the context of its responsibilities laid down in the above-mentioned regulations and in
partnership with the Spanish authorities concerned. Where necessary, it may decide to convene additional
technical meetings on the project.

The Commission is required to adopt each decision concerning support from the Structural Funds and
Cohesion in line with the relevant Community Regulations and in full compliance with all the other
applicable Community policies and legislation.

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.
(2) OJ L 130, 25.5.1994.

(2004/C 84 E/0913)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0608/04

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: The Commission’s political intentions re GMOs

(23 February 2004)

On 18 December 2003, report A5-0465/2003 relating to the coexistence between genetically modified
crops and conventional and organic crops was adopted by a great majority of MEPs in the European
Parliament.

Bearing this in mind can the Commission tell the European Parliament of its political intentions with
regard to the following issues:

(cid:1) Will the Commission stipulate the labelling of GMOs in seed at the technically measurable and reliable
detection threshold on the basis of Article 21(2) of Directive 2001/18/EC (1), and take into account the
scientific assessments regarding practical applicability (paragraph 2)?

(cid:1) Will the Commission establish uniform and binding rules without delay at the Community level on
the coexistence of genetically modified crops and non-genetically modified conventional crops, and
call for the European Parliament to be included in this process under the codecision procedure
(paragraph 3)?

(cid:1) Will the Commission submit a proposal on Community-wide civil liability provisions for sufficient
insurance coverage on the part of the applicant, as a component of the authorisation procedure for
placing GMOs on the market (paragraph 8)?

(cid:1) Finally, will the Commission make a formal commitment not to proceed with the approval of the
release of any further genetically modified varieties of plant until such time as binding rules on
coexistence, backed up by a system of liability based firmly on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, have been
agreed and implemented?

(1) OJ L 106, 17.4.2001, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(31 March 2004)

In terms of thresholds, Article 21(2) of Directive 2001/18/EC (1) provides for the possibility to derogate
from labelling requirements where adventitious or technically unavoidable traces of GMOs cannot be
excluded in other products. The Commission is currently preparing a decision concerning labelling
thresholds for GM seeds, under this Article, below which the adventitious presence of GM seeds in

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conventional seed lots does not have to be labelled. Such thresholds will take account of the 0,9 %
threshold in place for food and feed products arising from the harvested products of the seed lots in
question and should also be workable and enforceable. Identical thresholds will then be adopted under the
seed legislation under the Management Committee Procedure.

In the context of co-existence measures, the Commission believes its role should be limited to guidance
and it is not its intention to establish uniform and binding rules for co-existence at the Community level.
This is because the proportionality, effectiveness and cost-efficiency of measures for co-existence tend to be
dependent upon national and regional (or even local) environmental, topographical and climatic conditions
as well as farming practices, which vary greatly both between and within Member States. The Commission
considers, therefore, that the ‘subsidiarity approach’
is the most appropriate for the development and
implementation of co-existence measures and the new Article 26a of Directive 2001/18/EC provides a legal
basis for such measures. It should be noted that any draft proposed measure that has the potential to
create a technical barrier to trade, or conflict with a full harmonisation method, must be notified to the
Commission in accordance with Directive 98/34/EC (2).

Liability rules will be conditioned by the overall approach to co-existence taken by Member States and
should therefore be addressed as an integral part of the package of co-existence measures. The Commission
has, therefore, also decided to apply the subsidiarity principle to liability rules for co-existence. The
Commission policy has always been that civil liability would be better dealt with at a national level and has
asked Member States to assess whether their existing civil liability law would be appropriate to deal with
co-existence issues. It will re-examine this issue in 2005, as part of a report on co-existence, which will
include the measures taken by the different Member States.

The Commission, as guardian of the EC Treaty, has an obligation to ensure that Community legislation is
fully implemented across the Community. Directive 2001/18/EC and the recently adopted Regulation (EC)
No 1829/2003 (3) establish rules for the authorisation of GMOs and the Commission intends to ensure
that this legislation is fully enforced.

(1) Directive 2001/18/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the
environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC (cid:1) Commission
Declaration, OJ L 106, 17.4.2001.

(2) Directive 98/34/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the

provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified

food and feed, OJ L 268, 18.10.2003.

(2004/C 84 E/0914)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0611/04

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(1 March 2004)

Subject: Terrorism: drawing up a European directive providing for the presence of air marshals on board

aircraft

Knowing that:

(cid:1) the development of international terrorism has led to the need for specialised personnel on board

aircraft to anticipate or prevent terrorist attacks and hijacking;

(cid:1) it is advisable that such personnel (air marshals) have some kind of preparation for working unarmed;

(cid:1) such personnel could be used on the ground in cooperation with the police;