Text tabled : A7-0170/2011

  Vilja Savisaar-Toomast (ALDE), in writing. – (ET) I welcome the fact that today’s report gives the Member States the competence to use their own territory for the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or to restrict or prohibit them. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey on this issue, published in October 2010, 61% of Europeans say that GM food makes them feel uneasy, and the same proportion (61%) disagree with the idea that the development of GM food should be encouraged. Less than a quarter (23%) agree with the idea that ‘GM food does no harm to the environment’, whilst over 53% disagree with this statement. Overall, there is not a single country in which the majority of respondents agree that the cultivation of GMOs is good for the country’s economy. On the issue of the contamination of conventional or organic farming by GMOs, the Commission has always justified its refusal to legislate at Community level by the diversity of agricultural practices, climates and geography among and even within Member States. This same diversity exists for ecosystems and receiving environments, and justifies the application of subsidiarity to the cultivation of GMOs, following the same logic. At the same time, the possible cultivation of a GMO should also not result in additional costs for farmers working in conventional or organic farming. It should thus be compulsory for Member States to take measures to avoid the presence of GMOs in other products, and particular attention should be paid to any possible cross-border contamination. In addition to the above, it is certainly also worth noting the question of what need there is in Europe to encourage the cultivation of GMOs when at the same time we have restrictions on several other forms of agricultural production. I supported the adoption of this report.