Cultivation of GMOs in Slovenia
The EU is known for its strict and comprehensive regulation of GMOs. However, if GMOs passed the strict centralised authorisation procedure, they could have been cultivated in all Member States. Member States were not pleased with this scenario as it failed to address their concerns and views on GMOs. In protest they blocked the GMO authorisation procedure which resulted in a moratorium on GMOs in the EU.
To resolve this issue, the EU adopted Directive (EU) 2015/412, which allows Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in their territories, with an exemption known as the opt-out concept. The goal was to allow GMO seeds enter the internal market by getting the required consensus of the majority of Member States, whereby the Member States could restrict GMO use in their state territory.
This goal has obviously not been achieved because majority of Member States (Slovenia included) did not consent to the authorisation procedure for new GMOs earlier this year, despite having successfully prevented cultivation in their territories using the opt-out concept invoked during the transitional period of Directive (EU) 2015/412.
Despite the fact that scientists mostly claim that GMOs are not harmful to human health, the public are not convinced, while policy in general gives GMOs a wide berth. Nevertheless, some EU countries (like Sweden, Finland, Ireland) are opening their doors to GMO cultivation. However, Slovenia remains steadfast in its desire to prohibit the cultivation of GMOs.
