1st quarter 2004

European Parliament calls for uniform liability rules for gentically modified organisms

On 18 December 2003, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the coexistence of genetically modified, conventional and organically farmed crops.

In the resolution the Parliament

• —
  calls on the Commission to submit a proposal on Community-wide civil liability and insurance in respect of possible financial damage in connection with coexistence (item7);
• —
  calls on the Commission and the Member States to include workable and legally enforceable civil liability provisions for sufficient insurance cover on the part of the applicant as a component of the authorisation procedure for placing GMOs on the market, so that claims by persons affected can be dealt with adequately and quickly in the event of damage (item8);
• —
  calls on the Commission and Member States not to proceed with the approval of the release of any further genetically modified varieties of plant until such time as binding rules on coexistence, backed up by a system of liability based firmly on the 'polluter pays' principle, have been agreed and implemented (item9).

With this, the European Parliament wishes to impose uniform liability rules for the whole of Europe with corresponding insurance coverage rules. The Parliament even proposes an extension of the moratorium on approval of the release of genetically modified plants until such time as binding liability and insurance rules have been agreed and implemented.

This is in contrast to the Guidelines of the Commission of the European Communities on Coexistence of 23 July 2003 in which the individual Member States are explicitly given the responsibility for their liability and insurance rules. Coexistence is understood to mean the parallel farming of genetically modified, conventional and organically farmed crops.

Member States have the liberty to decide whether or not an adaptation of existing insurance schemes is meaningful or if they wish to introduce new schemes for this area.

Since the beginning of the 90s, when the first deliberate release and contained use directives were adopted in connection with genetically modified organisms, the European Parliament has repeatedly made attempts to achieve uniform European liability rules, but has not succeeded to date. This time, however, due to the poor public acceptance of "green genetic engineering" in most EU countries, it is assumed that the European Parliament will at least exert political influence on the Member States.