C 177/8
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
17.5.2023
Tuesday 13 December 2022
4.
Urges the Commission, again, to take into account the Union’s obligations under international agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN CBD and the UN SDGs; reiterates its call for draft implementing acts to be accompanied by an explanatory memorandum explaining how they uphold the principle of ‘do no harm’ (21); 5.
Welcomes the fact that the Commission finally recognised, in a letter of 11 September 2020 to Members, the need to take sustainability into account when it comes to authorisation decisions on GMOs (22); expresses its deep disappointment, however, that, since then the Commission has continued to authorise GMOs for import into the Union, despite ongoing objections by Parliament and a majority of Member States voting against; 6.
Calls on the Commission not to authorise the import of herbicide-tolerant GM crops, due to the increased use of complementary herbicides, and the associated risks to biodiversity, food safety and workers’ health; 7.
Expects the Commission, as matter of urgency, and in time for conclusion under this legislature, to deliver on its commitment (23) to come forward with a proposal to ensure that hazardous chemicals banned in the Union are not produced for export; 8.
Calls on the Commission to immediately suspend the import of GM soybeans cultivated in Brazil and Argentina, using Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 if necessary, until effective legally binding mechanisms have been put in place to prevent the placing on the Union market of products associated with deforestation and related human rights violations; 9.
Highlights that the amendments adopted by the European Parliament on 17 December 2020 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 (24), which were adopted in Parliament as a basis for negotiations with the Council, state that the Commission shall not authorise GMOs when there is not a qualified majority of Member States in favour; insists that the Commission respect this position and calls on the Council to proceed with its work and adopt a general approach on this file as a matter of urgency; 10.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.
(21) (22) (23) (24)
European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2020 on the European Green Deal (OJ C 270, 7.7.2021, p. 2), paragraph 102.
https://tillymetz.lu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Co-signed-letter-MEP-Metz.pdf As outlined in the annex to the communication of the Commission of 14 October 2020 entitled ‘Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability’, COM(2020)0667, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2020%3A667%3AFIN# document2 OJ C 445, 29.10.2021, p. 257.