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THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



- welcomes the Commission proposal which aims to amend the existing legislation with a view to granting Member States greater freedom with regard to the possibility of restricting or prohibiting on their territory the cultivation of genetically modified organisms authorised at EU level;

- also welcomes the openness of this new approach whereby other reasons (social, sustainability related, ethical, etc.) can be taken into account to prohibit the cultivation of GMOs on a given territory;

- calls on the Commission to identify the requirements and criteria relating to the implementation of new restrictive measures which may be taken and emphasises that local and regional authorities must imperatively be involved in decisions pertaining to the regions which concern them;

- considers that account must be taken urgently of the decisions and measures prohibiting GMOs adopted by the Member States or regions, as these decisions and measures, in the context of a transparent market for consumers, must not be exposed to a legal vacuum;

- highlights the following issues which need to be dealt with before amending Directive 2001/18/EC as regards the possibility for the Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in their territory:

• inadequacy of the existing rules on labelling of GM-derived products;

• inadequacy of the risk assessment procedure and monitoring;

• the adverse impact of GM crops on conventional or organic crops and on rural development policies;

- considers that closer collaboration on the cultivation of GMOs is needed between the EFSA and the relevant national and regional authorities, and asks the Commission to pursue the course it has already embarked upon in this matter.