The idea is wonderful and its realization would be a great help to the common cause. But all (legal) precaution should be taken to ensure that the Irish government, or those supporting the idea, don't make themselves a laughing stock of the opponents.
It is my understanding that an EU Member State as a whole cannot "ban" GMOs on its territory as that would not comply with EU regulations. Poland had that experience not long ago.
But Austria, for instance, is an example of a clever way of sailing around this difficulty: Simply have all of the Irish counties (or whatever administrative units are between counties and the Republic as a whole) declare themselves GMO-free - and the result is what you want without breaching any EU regs. In Austria, all of the Länder have declared themselves GMO-free and the country and the EU is happy.
See http://www.gmfreeireland.org/reserve for details about the GM-free biosafety reserve initiative.
One of the aims of this project is to change the rules of the game.
At the moment, although the European Commission does not recognise the democratic right of member states to establish national blanket bans on the commercial release of GM crops, it appears to acknowledge the right of EU Regions and other local areas to remain GM-free if they wish to protect their local agriculture and biodiversity. A recent proposal by a group of member states to re-nationalise decisions on the cultivation of approved GM crops in their areas could backfire by exposing GM-free member states to WTO lawsuits from pro-GM countries like the USA, Canada and Argentina.
What makes the establishment of the EU GM-free biosafety reserve completely different is that it would (a) a strengthen legal recognition of the international food security threat posed by GM crops, (b) establish a whole EU member state as a legal GM-free zone for the European Union, and (c) have the backing of the European Commission.
Commentaires
The idea is wonderful and its realization would be a great help to the common cause. But all (legal) precaution should be taken to ensure that the Irish government, or those supporting the idea, don't make themselves a laughing stock of the opponents.
It is my understanding that an EU Member State as a whole cannot "ban" GMOs on its territory as that would not comply with EU regulations. Poland had that experience not long ago.
But Austria, for instance, is an example of a clever way of sailing around this difficulty: Simply have all of the Irish counties (or whatever administrative units are between counties and the Republic as a whole) declare themselves GMO-free - and the result is what you want without breaching any EU regs. In Austria, all of the Länder have declared themselves GMO-free and the country and the EU is happy.
See http://www.gmfreeireland.org/reserve for details about the GM-free biosafety reserve initiative.
One of the aims of this project is to change the rules of the game.
At the moment, although the European Commission does not recognise the democratic right of member states to establish national blanket bans on the commercial release of GM crops, it appears to acknowledge the right of EU Regions and other local areas to remain GM-free if they wish to protect their local agriculture and biodiversity. A recent proposal by a group of member states to re-nationalise decisions on the cultivation of approved GM crops in their areas could backfire by exposing GM-free member states to WTO lawsuits from pro-GM countries like the USA, Canada and Argentina.
What makes the establishment of the EU GM-free biosafety reserve completely different is that it would (a) a strengthen legal recognition of the international food security threat posed by GM crops, (b) establish a whole EU member state as a legal GM-free zone for the European Union, and (c) have the backing of the European Commission.
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