BioWorld International Correspondent

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union has taken two decisive steps to try to bring defaulting member states into line with its biotechnology rules.

Following calls for legal action against member states that have failed to put the biotechnology patent rules into effect, it has started legal proceedings against eight countries for failure to implement the directive on legal protection of biotechnological inventions. Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden are to be dragged before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for being three years late in bringing the rules into force.

The European Commission, which is responsible for ensuring that EU rules are followed, said in a statement: "Non-implementation of this directive is putting the European biotechnology sector at a serious disadvantage. It provides the European Union with a means of permitting European companies to compete on level terms with their Japanese and American rivals."

The rule was brought in in 2000 to clarify patent law applied to biotechnological inventions and to ensure that ethical rules were respected, which is seen as essential to exploiting the potential of biotechnology in Europe. The Commission said it tried to cooperate closely with member states to accelerate the implementation procedure, but without success. To date, only seven of the 15 member states have implemented the directive.

The second step the Commission has taken is to open legal proceedings against 11 member states for not adopting the 2001 EU law governing the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment - the principal EU rule on biotechnology product authorizations. France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Austria and Finland all repeatedly missed the October 2002 deadline, and will be brought before the European Court of Justice for this failure, too.

European Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said, "I have been repeatedly inviting member states to live up to their obligations and I am disappointed that this has produced few results." She said Europe's credibility "will be severely undermined if we are not able to demonstrate that we can implement" the rules.

Ministers Also Tackle GMO Issues

And in a rush to clear the decks before the EU's long summer recess, EU ministers last week formally adopted the two proposals on genetically modified organisms that had been the missing pieces in the EU rules on GMOs for years. They establish a clear EU system to trace and label GMOs, and to regulate the placing on the market and labeling of food and feed products derived from GMOs. According to Wallström, the final adoption of the new legislation "completes the EU's legislation on GMOs."

At the same time, the Commission published recommendations to ensure co-existence of GM and non-GM crops. The guidelines are intended to help member states develop workable national measures that will meet EU rules. Franz Fischler, European commissioner for agriculture and rural development, said, "We want to ensure that farmers are able to cultivate the types of agricultural crops they choose be it GM crops, conventional or organic crops." But, he acknowledged, an EU-wide "one-size-fits-all" approach is unworkable, and the guidelines should help member states find their own local solutions without breaching the overall EU regulations.