2023-07-06 09:44:00
The European Commission wants to relax legislation for the cultivation and sale of modern improved crops in the EU. Fruit and vegetables modified with new genetic techniques no longer have to meet a long series of control requirements and no longer receive a separate label. For crops manipulated with older gene techniques, the strict rules remain unchanged. And nothing will change for animal products either, if it is up to the committee.
The EU Executive Board proposes the more flexible rules for new techniques to promote innovation in food and competition in the global market. Climate change, the desire to use less pesticides and health reasons also create a need for crops that can withstand changes, the committee says. These include maize that can withstand drought, wheat without gluten or potatoes that are resistant to certain germs.
Time consuming and expensive
The current European rules on genetic modification of crops date from 2001 and lag behind legislation in many other countries, including the United States. European farmers and companies are still subject to all kinds of controls and labeling requirements, which costs a lot of money and time.
MEP Jan Huitema (VVD) is happy with the proposal. “Historically, the Netherlands has been big in plant breeding. Many fruits and vegetables that are eaten all over the world come from a seed that was developed in the Netherlands.” Due to European legislation, the Netherlands was in danger of losing its position as a breeder, he says.
Soil pollution
The commission also proposes measures to combat soil pollution in the EU. More than 60 percent of the soil has been affected, she said. She asks Member States to map all potentially contaminated sites in a public register and to address them. Remediation must be carried out according to the ‘polluter pays’ principle, so that the costs are borne by those responsible for the pollution.
Bas Eickhout (GroenLinks) applauds the first concrete steps towards soil legislation. “However, the proposal is missing the most important thing: a plan to really improve the soil quality. Without binding agreements on this, this mainly means that we are going to measure very carefully how the soil in Europe is deteriorating. That cannot be the intention.”
The EU countries and the European Parliament must agree to the proposals.
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