As reported by AFP and EurActiv among others, on Wednesday, like-minded countries sent a letter to Commissioner Borg in an attempt to stop the authorisation of GM 1057 at the eleventh hour.
They make
reference to the well-known legal, political and scientific concerns as well as
to the Commission's
1999 commitment not to go against predominant
majorities in such cases.
Fingers crossed that we won't have to keep our fingers crossed for the safety of our food chain...
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Fingers crossed that we won't have to keep our fingers crossed for the safety of our food chain...
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Mr Tonio Borg
Commissioner
European Commission
Dear Commissioner,
Yesterday’s discussion at the General Affairs Council
on GMOs made clear that in the particular problem at hand, the extremely sensitive
question of whether to authorise the genetically modified maize GM 1507, the
solution is in the hands of the Commission. The Commission is still in position
to withdraw its proposal.
An overwhelming majority of stakeholders, the European
Parliament and Member States
have repeatedly opposed the proposal. Yesterday, in particular, only 5 Member
States supported it and 19 were against. That kind of an outcome would not
yield approval under any other decision making procedure, amply underlining the
validity and usefulness of the Commission’s 1999 pledge not to go against
predominant majorities in such cases.
We are convinced that the Commission cannot ignore the
legal, political and scientific concerns voiced by so many Member States and the general
political landscape.
We are therefore confident that, by considering the
horizontal impact of the issue, the Commission will withdraw the proposal.
Sincerely,
Sebastian Kurz
Federal Minister for
European and International Affairs, Austria
Kristian VIGENIN
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bulgaria
Ioannis
KASOULIDES,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cyprus
Thierry REPENTIN
Minister for European Affairs, France
Enikő GYŐRI
Minister of State for European Affairs, Hungary
Enzo Moavero
MILANESI
Minister for European Affairs, Italy
Edgars RINKEVICS
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Latvia
Vytautas
Leškevičius,
Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
Jean ASSELBORN
Minister of
Foreign and European Affairs, Luxembourg
Piotr SERAFIN
Minister for European Affairs, Poland
Igor SENCAR,
State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia
Louis GRECH,
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for European Affairs, Malta