Minister from the European Union's member states voted on 1507 genetically modified maize at a session of the EU General Affairs Committee on 11 February. An overwhelming majority of member states voted against authorising the cultivation of the GMO maize, which despite this will still be given a green light by the European Commission

Despite the definitive rejection of GMOs on the part of Hungary and the majority of other member states in view of the problems inherent in the European Union's GMO certification system, it is very likely that yet another strain of genetically modified maize will be given authorisation to be cultivated within the EU.

Hungary had voiced its objections to the proposal when it was first discussed in 2009. We have fought side-by-side with several other member states for years to ensure that this strain of maize is not authorised. Our arguments against the cultivation of the genetically modified maize strain were mirrored in the statement published recently by the European Parliament. In a statement following its plenary meeting on 16 January 2014, the European Parliament voiced a clear opinion that called on the ministers of the member states to reject the proposal to allow the cultivation of genetically modified 1507 maize.

The authorisation procedure has been going on since 2001, when GMO giant Pioneer first submitted its request for authorisation of the 1507 maize strain. Last September, the European Court of Justice ruled that the European Commission had performed procedural errors during the authorisation procedure, and this is how the issue once again came into the spotlight. The Foreign Ministers of the member states voted on the issue in Brussels today.

Only 5 out of the European Union's 28 member states - Spain, the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden and Estonia - voted in support of authorisation. We find it outrageous that almost all of the countries who voted in favour of the GM crop are countries in which maize is not even cultivated. Spain was the only one of the EU's large, maize-producing countries to support allowing cultivation. The other large European maize producers such as France, Hungary and Russia are absolutely against authorising the new crop strain. Even German, Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic, all of whom have been involved in cultivating EU-authorised MON810 genetically modified maize in the past, voted against authorising the latest GM maize strain.

It is unacceptable that the European Commission continues to disregard the fact that the majority of EU citizens are against the consumption of GM foods, and that during the authorisation procedure it did not give member states the opportunity to properly discuss the proposal. We cannot understand why, if the given plant has been scientifically proven to have negative effects on other plants and animals, as even voiced by the EU scientific body, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the request for authorisation isn't simply rejected. Why isn't one of the basic principles of the operation of the European Union, the "precautionary principle", also used in practice? It is also unacceptable politics to authorise a proposal of this nature despite the fact that only 5 out the EU's 28 member states have voted to allow it. The question arises: is the EU system working properly with relation so such a sensitive issue? To whose advantage is it for the Commission to tell us what we should eat and what crops we should cultivate on our own farmland?

The current situation is untenable. Firstly because of the ignoring of scientifically proven health and environment risks, and secondly, in a wider political context, because since the authorisation of GM crops clearly goes against the will of the majority of member states, it therefore infringes on their sovereignty and is also in conflict with the principle of subsidiarity. Instead of allowing the spread of GM plants throughout Europe, we should be doing out utmost to tighten EU-level authorisation procedures; to ensure that proven health risks cannot be disregarded; to ensure that member states are given the opportunity to express their opinions on a politically and economically sensitive issue of this nature; and finally, to ensure that member states can decide for themselves whether they want to cultivate genetically modified organisms on their own territories or not.

In December 2013, Hungary won the court battle that it had initiated against the European Commission in 2010 with relation to the authorisation of the genetically modified Amflora potato strain. As a result, the European Court of Justice annulled the Commission's decision to authorise the cultivation of this GMO within the territory of the European Union. Drawing strength from this ruling, the Government shall once again take all necessary measures to ensure that no one can cultivate yet another GM crop in Hungary so that we may preserve the GMO-free status of our agriculture and protect our uniquely rich natural treasures.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)