EU-lidstaten verdeeld over toelating gen-maïs op Europese markt (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU environment ministers failed on Monday (28 June) to reach an agreement on whether to authorise the import and processing of a genetically modified maize in the EU.

It now falls to the European Commission to take the final decision.

Nine EU countries - Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg - voted against the Commission's proposal to authorise biotech giant Monsanto's genetically modified maize NK603.

The maize has been modified for increased tolerance to the company's own herbicide.

On the other hand, four countries - Belgium, Germany, Spain and Slovenia - abstained while nine other countries - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and the UK - voted in favour.

The positions of Poland and Malta remained unclear.

"There is clearly no majority backing for GMOs among EU governments or the public, yet the Commission persists in trying to impose them", said Eric Gall of Greenpeace.

"Those countries [that] rejected [Monday's] authorisation are standing up against inadequate testing procedures and patchy applications. They are also refusing to make life easy for the Commission in its attempts to appease the Bush administration and its business cronies", he added.

This is not the first time a decision has gone back to the Commission. In May, it authorised Swiss company Syngenta to place Bt11 sweetcorn on the market despite a split among national capitals.