Commission of the European Union

Commission Moves Against Luxembourg And France

The European Commission has decided to notify two Reasoned Opinions to France for non-respect of one of the principal European Union (EU) Directives dealing with genetically modified organisms, Council Directive 90/220/EEC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms. The Commission also decided to notify a Reasoned Opinion to Luxembourg under Article 228 (ex Article 171) of the EC Treaty for failure to comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice in respect of a Directive adapting Directive 90/220/EEC to technical progress.

Directive 90/220/EEC creates a framework aimed at securing the environmental safety of releases of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment. The framework is intended to contribute to the internal market by setting out a common set of conditions for products utilising GMOs.

The first failure by France concerns the initial steps to be taken where a person (referred to as a "notifier") who wishes to place a GMO product on the market submits an application to a competent Member State authority. According to the Directive, the competent authority must do one of two things within 90 days: either forward the application to the European Commission with a favourable opinion or inform the notifier that the application does not respect the directive and is rejected. France is not respecting the 90 day time limit, hence the Commission decided to notify a Reasoned Opinion.

The second failure by France concerns later steps in the process whereby GMO products are allowed to be placed on the market. According to the Directive, once a decision has been taken to approve a proposed placing on the market of a GMO product, the competent authority of the Member State which received the original application must give its consent in writing, so allowing the product to be placed on the market. Despite favourable decisions for two GMO products in 1997, France is still withholding its consent. The Commission sees this as contrary to the Directive, hence the second decision to notify a Reasoned Opinion.

As regards the case against Luxembourg, the relevant Court judgement was handed down on 16 July 1998 (Case C-339/97). While the Luxembourg authorities have sent the Commission draft legislation to transpose the Directive (the transposition deadline was 31 July 1997), they have not provided a firm timetable for its adoption, hence the Commission decision to take a further step under Article 228.

By way of background, Article 228 gives the Commission the right to take legal action against a Member State which does not comply with a previous Court judgement. Following changes inserted by the Treaty on European Union ("the Maastricht Treaty"), the article also allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.