AGRICULTURE COUNCIL: ITALY, FRANCE AND GERMANY REQUEST BRUSSELS TO DECIDE ON GMO. CONFAGRICOLTURA SAYS, “RESPONSIBLE POSITION”

At the Council of Ministers of Agriculture Italy, France and Germany have expressed their disagreement about the proposal of the European Commission to delegate to Member States the decision to “ban” or not ban the cultivation of GM crops from their territories, virtually without giving specific reasons. The Italian Minister Galan, and his French and German counterparts, made it evident that the ”freedom of choice” proposal is actually a weak point in the single market principle. The Italian Confederation of Farmers, Confagricoltura, believes “that these three countries expressed a responsible position, at this interlocutory stage of the European confrontation. They are aware that we should not march in different directions on such an important matter that has global consequences. Copa, the organization representing European farmers is of the same opinion - says Confagricoltura - who also asked that the GM issue be decided in a coordinated manner in Brussels.
Confagricoltura also points out; “France and Germany have supported a unilateral moratorium on the cultivation of GM crops, which is still in force. Nonetheless they want to “centralize” decisions on a European level”.

“In Italy,” pending the decision in Brussels, “we are defining the guidelines for co-existence that the regions will discuss on September 30th. Confagricoltura hopes that, instead of a contract, Italy prefers to lay down viable, realistic and proportionate guidelines to the goal, which do not surreptitiously constitute a de facto ban on GM crops. This would be a contradiction to the European and secular line Minister Galan expressed today at the Council of Agriculture.