Coalition negotiations: dispute over green gene technology

(07 October 2009) The currently valid cultivation ban for the genetically modified (GM) Bt maize MON810 in Germany is developing into a clash in the coalition negotiations for a federal government composed of Christian democrats (CDU/CSU) and liberals (FDP). While a reversal of the ban is out of the question for the CSU, the FDP demands that the use of approved genetically modified plants be allowed.

"We don’t want any commercial cultivation in Bavaria," stated the local minister for the environment, Markus Söder (CSU) in Berlin. He represents the CSU in the working group for agriculture, the environment and consumer protection, which met in Berlin on the 7th of October. This is one of eleven working groups that are charged with the negotiation of an upcoming coalition agreement on the political level. A reversal of the ban instituted by the minister for agriculture, Ilse Aigner (CSU), is for Söder "not acceptable". Research in the field of gene technology nonetheless should continue to be possible.

In contrast, the FDP states the wish to remove the ban, as well as that the cultivation of the GM Amflora potato with modified starch content receive more support. The FDP Member of Parliament Christel Happach-Kasan is the foremost advocate for the commercial use of genetically modified plants and for more research in this field. The Minister for Agriculture in Lower Saxony, Hans-Heinrich Sander, also stated in Berlin that the opportunities provided by green gene technology should be used. Sander, like Happach-Kasan, is a member of the working group.

However, it appears questionable if the future federal government indeed will have the political leeway to declare a lasting national cultivation ban for GM plants that have been approved in the EU. According to current EU legal regulations, an approval that has been issued across the EU is valid for all Member States. A temporary invalidation of cultivation approval in an EU country is possible only in the case that new scientific findings regarding possible risks are available. This latitude was used by Minister Aigner in April to effect an intermission in the cultivation approval for MON810 maize. The main proceedings for the complaint that Monsanto submitted against the ban have not yet achieved a conclusive decision.

In the meanwhile, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has assessed once more the safety of MON810 maize. Even under consideration of new research, the EFSA experts perceive no scientific reason to withdraw he cultivation approval for MON810. If the EU follows the recommendation of its bureau of experts, a national cultivation ban hardly may be maintained.

The CSU has long demanded that the political decision with regard to the cultivation of GM plants no longer be decided by the EU but by individual Member States. Also, the former and current president of the Commission, Barroso, hinted recently that he could imagine such a solution. However: to date, no concrete suggestions exist of how it could be implemented in agreement with EU treaties and within the context of the common domestic market.

See also on GMO Compass:

• Renewed approval of genetically modified maize MON810: EFSA has no reservations (1 July 2009)
• New EFSA Opinion: BASF now calls for approval of the Amflora potato (11 June 2009)