Commission for more transparency on GMO decisions

The environmental NGOs immediately welcomed the Commission's intentions and Greenpeace Europe wants EFSA to be immediately subject to mandatory guidelines on how to evaluate the risks of GMOs. It also calls for suspension of the current authorisation process and for re-asssessment of EFSA's previous opinions on GMOs.

EuropaBio welcomes most of the Commission's proposals for improvements, except the one which is to give the Commission the right to suspend the authorisation procedure and refer back the question if a member state raises new scientific questions not fully adressed by the EFSA opinion. "I find this point very confusing and wonder how the Commission will do this 'in the existing legal framework', as it says it will," said Simon Barber from EuropaBio. "If EFSA's scientific safety assessment process is politicised, it will become worthless," he continued.