No vote, no debate – GM crops come to Europe via back-door diplomacy

Genetically-modified food may soon be freely available throughout Europe following diplomatic pressure from the US that by-passes the democratic process.
US diplomats are collaborating with Spanish officials to get genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) accepted for use on farms throughout Europe – without telling MEPs (members of the European Parliament) or calling for a vote.
Spain’s European representatives have already agreed to the move, and are helping US officials navigate through the European Commission bureaucracy to gain a back-door agreement to GMOs.
Wikileaks first alerted Europe to the strategy last December when it published a cache of secret diplomatic papers on its website. Spanish MEP Raul i Rueda has questioned the European Commission about its undemocratic processes in a written question. Replying, John Dalli, commissioner for health and consumer policy, has refused to answer the MEP’s questions about the process because the information may be commercially sensitive. In any event, the European Food Safety Authority has concluded there are no “unacceptable risks to human health” posed by GMOs, he said.
(Sources: ANH-International; www.anh-europe.org/print/3298)

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