Legalising General Prohibitions on Cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms

Abstract

In a pluralistic society, agreement over complex issues is frequently difficult to achieve. This is amply demonstrated by the question of cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), where scientific uncertainty relating to potential threats to the environment or human health runs parallel with concerns over ethics, freedom of choice, and competing agricultural and economic interests. Conflict centres over the objective of free trade of GMOs and the circumstances in which restrictions may legitimately be imposed to deal with the abovementioned concerns, in particular regarding cultivation.

The Cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms in the European Union: A Necessary Trade‐Off?

“…The central point of the proposed Regulation, which only focuses on the cultivation of GMOs (and, for instance, not on their import), is the Article 26b granting freedom to the Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs within their territory. In this respect, it offers 'a post-authorization national veto for the member states' (Dobbs, 2010(Dobbs, , p. 1350) and it provides the Member States with an alternative to prohibit or restrict the cultivation of GMOs that have been authorized at the EU level on grounds other than those covered by European risk assessment and the safeguard clause (health and environment). At the time of writing, the 2010 Commission proposal is still under discussion in the Council after the European Parliament (EP) adopted its opinion at first reading in July 2010 (EP, 2011a).…”

“…The 2010 proposal on the cultivation of GMOs has already been studied from various perspectives. Poli (2010) and Dobbs (2010) analyzed the impact of the 2010 proposal on the authorization procedure and addressed the legal issues arising from the proposal (such as compliance with WTO or impact on the internal market). Weimer (2010) focused on the impact of the post-Lisbon reform of the comitology system on the GMO authorization procedure (see also Klika et al, 2013).…”

“…Interviews with European Commission (DG SANCO) officials, Brussels, 21 June 2012;Dobbs (2010). 2 This article does not analyze the influence of interest groups on the decision-making process regarding GMOs.…”