The European Union is set to make a landmark decision on genetically modified crops

A mammoth bureaucratic battle is looming between senior European Commission officials and national governments that could affect the long-term prospects for the cultivation of genetically modified crops on the continent.

Late last month, the European Commission's environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said that he plans to reject applications from Syngenta and Pioneer Hi-Bred International for approval to grow two transgenic strains of maize (corn), on the grounds that the crops could adversely affect the environment.

Dimas's position has been welcomed by environmental groups and attacked by industry lobbyists. And researchers point out that it ignores the recommendation Dimas received from his own scientific advisers.

But the environment commissioner's move is far from the end of the matter. Behind-the-scenes battles are under way inside the commission, where a powerful faction wants Europe to accept genetically modified crops. That would avoid further conflict with the United States, which has complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that European reluctance to approve the crops amounts to protectionism.

In particular, the commissioners who are respectively responsible for trade, industry and agriculture - Peter Mandelson, Günter Verheugen and Mariann Fischer Boel - are trying to overturn Dimas's decision.

Observers on both sides of the debate say that, when the dust settles, it is quite possible the European Commission will give the green light to Syngenta's Bt11 maize and Pioneer's 1507 maize, which are genetically engineered to be resistant to both pests and herbicides.

At present, only one transgenic crop can be cultivated in Europe: Monsanto's MON810 insect-resistant maize, which now comprises nearly 2% of maize grown in Europe, most of it in Spain and France (see 'Transgenic maize'). MON810 was approved before 2001, when the European Union (EU) agreed a directive setting out complex rules for the future approval of such crops...

Full Story: http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071212/full/450928a.html