Legal provisions of COM(2014)570 - Communication to the EP concerning the Council's position on amending Directive 2001/18/EC as regards the possibility for the Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in their territory

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dossier COM(2014)570 - Communication to the EP concerning the Council's position on amending Directive 2001/18/EC as regards the possibility for ...
document COM(2014)570 EN
date March 11, 2015

Contents

Article 1

Directive 2001/18/EC is amended as follows:

(1)In Article 26a, the following paragraph is inserted:

‘1a.   As from 3 April 2017 Member States in which GMOs are cultivated shall take appropriate measures in border areas of their territory with the aim of avoiding possible cross-border contamination into neighbouring Member States in which the cultivation of those GMOs is prohibited, unless such measures are unnecessary in the light of particular geographical conditions. Those measures shall be communicated to the Commission.’

(2)The following Articles are inserted:

‘Article 26b

Cultivation

1. During the authorisation procedure of a given GMO or during the renewal of consent/authorisation, a Member State may demand that the geographical scope of the written consent or authorisation be adjusted to the effect that all or part of the territory of that Member State is to be excluded from cultivation. That demand shall be communicated to the Commission at the latest 45 days from the date of circulation of the assessment report under Article 14(2) of this Directive, or from receiving the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority under Article 6(6) and Article 18(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. The Commission shall present the demand of the Member State to the notifier/applicant and to the other Member States without delay. The Commission shall make the demand publicly available by electronic means.

2. Within 30 days from the presentation by the Commission of that demand, the notifier/applicant may adjust or confirm the geographical scope of its initial notification/application.

In the absence of confirmation, the adjustment of the geographical scope of the notification/application shall be implemented in the written consent issued under this Directive and, where applicable, the decision issued in accordance with Article 19 of this Directive as well as the decision of authorisation adopted under Articles 7 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.

The written consent issued under this Directive and, where applicable, the decision issued in accordance with Article 19 of this Directive, as well as the decision of authorisation adopted under Articles 7 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, shall then be issued on the basis of the adjusted geographical scope of the notification/application.

Where a demand in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article is communicated to the Commission after the date of circulation of the assessment report under Article 14(2) of this Directive, or after receipt of the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority under Article 6(6) and Article 18(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, the timelines set out in Article 15 of this Directive to issue the written consent or, as the case may be, in Articles 7 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 to submit to the Committee a draft of the decision to be taken, shall be extended by a single period of 15 days regardless of the number of Member States presenting such demands.

3. Where no demand was made pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, or where the notifier/applicant has confirmed the geographical scope of its initial notification/application, a Member State may adopt measures restricting or prohibiting the cultivation in all or part of its territory of a GMO, or of a group of GMOs defined by crop or trait, once authorised in accordance with Part C of this Directive or with Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, provided that such measures are in conformity with Union law, reasoned, proportional and non-discriminatory and, in addition, are based on compelling grounds such as those related to:

(a)environmental policy objectives;

(b)town and country planning;

(c)land use;

(d)socioeconomic impacts;

(e)avoidance of GMO presence in other products without prejudice to Article 26a;

(f)agricultural policy objectives;

(g)public policy.

Those grounds may be invoked individually or in combination, with the exception of the ground set out in point (g) which cannot be used individually, depending on the particular circumstances of the Member State, region or area in which those measures will apply, but shall, in no case, conflict with the environmental risk assessment carried out pursuant to this Directive or to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.

4. A Member State which intends to adopt measures pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article shall first communicate a draft of those measures and the corresponding grounds invoked to the Commission. This communication may take place before the GMO authorisation procedure under Part C of this Directive or under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 has been completed. During a period of 75 days starting from the date of such communication:

(a)the Member State concerned shall refrain from adopting and implementing those measures;

(b)the Member State concerned shall ensure that operators refrain from planting the GMO or GMOs concerned; and

(c)the Commission may make any comments it considers appropriate.

On expiry of the 75-day period referred to in the first subparagraph, the Member State concerned may, for the whole duration of the consent/authorisation and as from the date of entry into force of the Union authorisation, adopt the measures either in the form originally proposed, or as amended to take account of any non-binding comments received from the Commission. Those measures shall be communicated to the Commission, the other Member States and the authorisation holder without delay.

Member States shall make publicly available any such measure to all operators concerned, including growers.

5. Where a Member State wishes all or part of its territory to be reintegrated into the geographical scope of the consent/authorisation from which it was previously excluded pursuant to paragraph 2, it may make a request to that effect to the competent authority which issued the written consent under this Directive or to the Commission if the GMO has been authorised under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. The competent authority which has issued the written consent or the Commission, as the case may be, shall amend the geographical scope of the consent or of the decision of authorisation accordingly.

6. For the purposes of an adjustment of the geographical scope of the consent/authorisation of a GMO under paragraph 5:

(a)for a GMO which has been authorised under this Directive, the competent authority which has issued the written consent shall amend the geographical scope of the consent accordingly and inform the Commission, the Member States and the authorisation holder once this is complete;

(b)for a GMO which has been authorised under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, the Commission shall amend the decision of authorisation accordingly, without applying the procedure set out in Article 35(2) of that Regulation. The Commission shall inform the Member States and the authorisation holder accordingly.

7. Where a Member State has revoked measures taken pursuant to paragraphs 3 and 4, it shall notify the Commission and the other Member States without delay.

8. Measures adopted under this Article shall not affect the free circulation of authorised GMOs as, or in, products.

Article 26 - c Transitional measures

1. From 2 April 2015 until 3 October 2015, a Member State may demand that the geographical scope of a notification/application submitted, or of an authorisation granted, under this Directive or Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 before 2 April 2015 be adjusted. The Commission shall present the demand of the Member State to the notifier/applicant and to the other Member States without delay.

2. Where the notification/application is pending and the notifier/applicant has not confirmed the geographical scope of its initial notification/application within 30 days from the communication of the demand referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the geographical scope of the notification/application shall be adjusted accordingly. The written consent issued under this Directive and, where applicable, the decision issued in accordance with Article 19 of this Directive as well as the decision of authorisation adopted under Articles 7 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 shall then be issued on the basis of the adjusted geographical scope of the notification/application.

3. Where the authorisation has already been granted and the authorisation holder has not confirmed the geographical scope of the authorisation within 30 days from the communication of the demand referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the authorisation shall be modified accordingly. For a written consent under this Directive, the competent authority shall amend the geographical scope of the consent accordingly and shall inform the Commission, the Member States, and the authorisation holder once this is complete. For an authorisation under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, the Commission shall amend the decision of authorisation accordingly, without applying the procedure set out in Article 35(2) of that Regulation. The Commission shall inform the Member States and the authorisation holder accordingly.

4. Where no demand was made pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, or where a notifier/applicant or, as the case may be, an authorisation holder has confirmed the geographical scope of its initial application or, as the case may be, authorisation, paragraphs 3 to 8 of Article 26b shall apply mutatis mutandis.

5. This Article is without prejudice to the cultivation of any authorised GMO seeds and plant propagating materials which were planted lawfully before the cultivation of the GMO is restricted or prohibited in the Member State.

6. Measures adopted under this Article shall not affect the free circulation of authorised GMOs as, or in, products.’

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Article 2

No later than 3 April 2019, the Commission shall present a report to the European Parliament and to the Council regarding the use made by Member States of this Directive including the effectiveness of the provisions enabling Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in all or part of their territory and the smooth functioning of the internal market. That report may be accompanied by any legislative proposals the Commission considers appropriate.

By the same date as referred to in the first paragraph, the Commission shall also report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the actual remediation of environmental damages that might occur due to the cultivation of GMOs, on the basis of information made available to the Commission pursuant to Articles 20 and 31 of Directive 2001/18/EC and Articles 9 and 21 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003.

Article 3

No later than 3 April 2017, the Commission shall update the Annexes to Directive 2001/18/EC in accordance with Article 27 of that Directive as regards the environmental risk assessment, with a view to incorporating and building upon the strengthened 2010 Authority guidance on the environmental risk assessment of genetically modified plants.

Article 4

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.