WIKIMEDIA, HUGHO226A new variety of genetically modified corn may soon be growing in European farm fields, after opponents of the move failed to block its authorization under European Union rules on Tuesday (February 11). The European Commission (EC) will now vote on whether or not to formally approve the new strain GM corn, called Pioneer 1507, for cultivation. Pioneer 1507, which was jointly developed by US-based agrochemical companies Dupont Pioneer and Dow Chemical, produces a toxin that acts as a pesticide against the European corn borer and contains genes that make it resistant to an herbicide.
A debate over the imminent approval for European farmers to grow Pioneer 1507 raged in Brussels on Tuesday, with five of the European Union’s 28 member states—Estonia, Finland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—approving the move, and 19 nations, including France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Poland, rejecting it. Four countries, including Germany, abstained from the vote. Because of the E.U.’s complex approval system, which gives countries different numbers of votes on such issues, the EC will now vote on authorizing the cultivation of Pioneer 1507 on European soil, even though a majority of the member nations voted against it. “This is dangerous for the image of EU institutions, it will fuel the idea that Europe doesn't work or works badly," Thierry Repentin, France's minister ...
