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Thursday, February 06, 2014

UK, Spain, Sweden welcome innovation, Germany equivocates, France steps backward -- but the EU progresses like a glacier.

Creative Commons: Richard Droker, 2011
EU set to OK new GM corn after Germany drops objection - Phys.org  (5th Feb 2014)

A new genetically modified crop, US firm Pioneer's TC1507 corn, is set for approval in Europe next week after Germany dropped its objections...
 "Germany is moving from being against to abstaining" in a vote on the long-running controversy... Ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday are to hand down a final decision... after a European Court ruled... that the company's 2001 request for permission must be dealt with...
 The European Union's general affairs ministers will decide next week using qualified majority voting—which is weighted to take account of the bigger states. If there is no majority against due to one nation's abstention, then approval will be automatic...
Currently Britain, Spain and Sweden are leaders of the "yes" camp, France and Hungary lead opponents and sources say the position of Germany, whose government is divided, will not change the outcome.
 There are another six applications for authorisation... To date GM crops have won repeated safety approvals from experts around the world... The Pioneer crop, for instance, has already six times been given a clean bill of health by the European Food Standards Authority... and the six pending applications have also secured EFSA backing...

France plans law to restore GMO crop ban
Paris 5th Feb 2014

(Reuters) - France has launched a move to restore a ban on genetically modified (GMO) maize annulled by its top court to prevent sowings this spring that could raise public outcry in a country strongly opposed to GMO crops...

A Senator of the ruling Socialist party submitted a draft law on Tuesday calling for the cultivation of any variety of genetically modified maize to be prohibited in the country....

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