Niveau juridique : Union européenne
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Question
« Three authorisations for cultivating three different varieties of genetically modified maize are currently being discussed. The varieties concerned are: DuPont Pioneer’s 1507, Syngenta’s Bt11 and Monsanto’s MON810.
Parliament has objected to these three varieties of maize being put on the market. Meanwhile, at Appeal Committee level (Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003), Member States were unable to reach a majority in support of the Commission’s plan to authorise the cultivation and import of genetically modified maize.
Is the Commission therefore willing to ban, once and for all, the cultivation and import of these three varieties of maize, and thus respect the wishes of Parliament, the Member States and the Union’s people, which are all against the use of GMOs in the EU? »
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REPONSE du 14-07-2017
The European Parliament’s resolutions referred to by the Honourable Member were adopted in the framework of the right of scrutiny of the European Parliament set out in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011(1), on whether a draft implementing act exceeds the implementing powers set out in a basic act. The Commission considers it has not exceeded its implementing powers in the preparation of these three draft implementing acts.
The possibility for the Commission to adopt implementing acts in the absence of an opinion of the appeal committee is expressly set out in Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. Moreover, decisions on applications for the placing on the market of products can only be adopted in accordance with the criteria set out in the applicable legislation by the European Parliament and by the Council. In this case, the Commission would like to highlight in particular that the European Food Safety Authority has issued several positive opinions for each of these three applications.
The Commission recently adopted a proposal(2) addressed to the European Parliament and to the Council with a view to amending the ‘Comitology’ Regulation (EU) No 182/2011, in view of those cases in which the Commission is obliged to adopt a decision without the support of a qualified majority of the Member States, as has been the case for these three applications. The objective of this proposal is to increase transparency and accountability in the decision-making process related to implementation of EU legislation.
(1) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.
(2) Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers, 14 February 2017, COM(2017) 85 final.