Christa Klaß (PPE). – (DE) Mr President, I support the Commission proposal which gives the Member States the option of making exceptions to an approval under specific, verifiable conditions. Today’s debate is not about the pros and cons of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in general.

It is important that the discussion about national restrictions is not held at the expense of farmers. The objective of the regulation, which is to guarantee legal certainty, must not be limited only to the Member States who want to ban GMOs on their sovereign territory. Farmers need an equally high level of legal certainty. Before the cultivation season starts, they need clear information about possible restrictions. Most importantly, they need a specific threshold for traces of GMOs. Even if a national ban is in place, there is still a risk of unintentional traces of GMO plants occurring.

I hope that we do not drift apart arbitrarily over these sensitive questions of Europe-wide approval.