The Commission expressed its opinion on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's position regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2001/18/EC as regards the possibility for the Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in their territory.
With a view of combining an EU authorisation system for GMOs, based on science, with freedom for Member States to decide whether or not they wish to cultivate GM crops on their territory, the Commission adopted this legislative proposal in July 2010.
This proposal provides a legal base in the EU legal framework on GMOs for Member States to restrict or prohibit in all or part of their territory the cultivation of GMOs that have been authorised at EU level. Those prohibitions or restrictions shall be based on grounds other than those covered by the environmental and health risk assessment under the EU authorisation system.
The European Parliament voted in second reading a consolidated text which contains a number of amendments to the text of the Council's position at first reading. The text is the result of negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The Commission accepted all the amendments voted by the European Parliament.