Commission proposes daily fine for France over non-application of biotech legislation
The Commission has proposed fining France for its failure to adopt biotechnology legislation on the handling of genetically modified micro-organisms. This will be the second time that France is referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the same matter. The Directive on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms was adopted at EU level in 1990, and in spite of an ECJ ruling in 2003, as well as several warning letters from the Commission, France has failed to fully transpose the Directive into national law. The Commission will now ask the ECJ to impose a daily fine of 168,000 euro, which will apply from the day of a second judgement by the court. Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations. The law in question regulates research and industrial activities, and is intended to protect the environment and human health from the potential dangers of laboratory biotechnology experiments in which genetically modified micro-organisms are used. In its national legislation, France has failed to ensure that: - emergency plans are drawn up for the nearby population in the event of an accident; - emergency services are made aware of the hazards; - the public is informed about the safety measures in place and the correct behaviour to adopt in case of accident; - information which may harm the competitive position of the company applying for authorisation may be kept confidential.
Countries
France