Sprendimų dėl genetiškai modifikuotų maisto ir pašarų priėmimo procesas

- broadly welcomes the intention underlying the Commission's proposal to give a greater say to the regions and extend their decision-making powers, but seriously questions the appropriateness of the measure in this particular case;

- would favour a system whereby, subject to legal examination and notwithstanding observations about the current proposal for a regulation, it should only ever be possible in future for the Commission to take a positive decision on an application if the Standing Committee or the Appeal Committee also vote in favour by at least a qualified majority;

- considers it unsatisfactory that, as current experience indicates, a prohibition option entails unreasonably high hurdles for a Member State to overcome before it can exercise this option at national level and impose a ban; this raises subsidiarity concerns and indicates that the proportionality principle would clearly be breached under this proposal;

- also notes with dissatisfaction that current experience suggests it is impossible to cost-effectively monitor a national ban in view of the free circulation of goods in the internal market and of global goods flows, not to mention the multiple links in the process chains of industrial food and feed production; would consequently recommend that the proposal for a regulation be rejected.