May 26, 2007
In a vote taken on February 20, EU governments defeated efforts to force Hungary to lift its ban on a genetically modified organism (GMO) — in this instance, US-based Monsanto's MON810, a transgenic maize product containing a toxin to kill pests. Among bloc members, only Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK voted to overturn Budapest's decision.
Just last year, EU ministers upheld an Austrian ban on the same product, and the February vote marked the third occasion that EU governments quashed a European Commission (EC) proposal to force a member state to accept domestic GMO cultivation.
Countries such as Romania and Spain have planted tens of thousands of hectares of GM crops, but both countries sided with Hungary on this occasion, citing grounds of national sovereignty.
The EC is now left to consider its options: It could take legal action, or drop efforts altogether to lift the Austrian and Hungarian bans.
"Our only regret [...] is that the EU does not operate according to the 'three strikes and you're out' policy," said Marco Contiero, Greenpeace's EU senior policy adviser on genetic engineering, following the vote.
