Genetically Modified Organisms – A Way Forward

Note submitted by the Austrian delegation, supported by Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus,
Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia

Background

The authorisation of GMOs is one of those rare subjects of EU legislation where no qualified
majority has been achieved in recent years. In accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC on
Committee Procedure and in the absence of a qualified majority, it has primarily been the European
Commission which has adopted decisions for the authorisation of GMOs.
On four occasions, a qualified majority in Council voted against EC proposals to lift the safeguard
clauses invoked with regard to certain GMOs by several Member States: in June 2005, in December
2006, in February 2007 and most recently in March 2009. These safeguard clauses concerned in
particular GMOs approved for cultivation.

The French EU Presidency showed great initiative by establishing the Ad hoc Council Working
Party on GMOs in the second half of 2008, which resulted in unanimous Council conclusions on
4 December 2008. These Council conclusions called inter alia for a strengthening of environmental
risk assessment, more freedom for Member States to decide upon GMO-free zones on their national
territory and the appraisal of socio-economic benefits and risks.

The Netherlands delegation came up with a declaration at the last Environment Council on
2 March 2009 calling for Member States to have the right to decide for themselves on the
cultivation of GMOs. The Netherlands government proposed that, without changing the general
authorisation procedure for placing GMOs and GMO products on the market, authorisations for
GMO cultivation should be granted at national level. The delegations cited above appreciate this
initiative and are willing to develop it further in order to find a satisfactory long-term solution.

The Way Forward

The time has come to find a way forward to deal with the authorisation and use of GMOs in
agriculture.

In addition to risk based assessment (safe for human health, animal health and the environment), the
delegations supporting this initiative are of the opinion that relevant socio-economic aspects should
play a role in the authorisation of GMOs and GMO products. They could also form a basis for
individual Member States to prohibit or regulate the cultivation of GMOs on the whole territory, or
certain defined areas, of individual Member States. There is currently no methodology available for
defining and evaluating socio-economic criteria. Such criteria could be discussed and agreed upon
during the process of discussion on socio-economic aspects that started with the adoption of the
Council conclusions of 2008.

Without prejudice to the outcome of this process, we believe that options should be considered
which could allow Member States to decide for themselves as regards cultivation, without changing
the general authorisation procedure for placing GMOs and products thereof on the market. In this
context it should be noted that the Commission has started a process to re-evaluate the respective
Regulations on GMOs, i.e. Directive 2001/18/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.

The legally soundest solution we envisage is a set of minor amendments to relevant EU legislation,
which should introduce the right of an individual Member State to restrict or prohibit the cultivation
of authorised GMOs on its territory. The amendments could be based on the subsidiarity principle
(Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Community) and the principle of unanimity for
decisions on land use (Article 175 of the Treaty establishing the European Community). Such an
“opt-out” clause could be formulated in quite straightforward legal terms and could easily be
integrated into the existing legislation.

The Member States supporting this initiative urge the Commission to put forward a proposal on the
basis of this discussion on GMOs and possible additional options, with the common goal of finding
a solution acceptable to all Member States as soon as possible.

All Member States supporting this note are willing to discuss any further options and proposals
which might arise.

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