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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE European Governments deny public participation in
decisions on Geneva, 6 March 1998 - Representatives of 37 European Governments and the EU meeting for the last negotiating session to draft a Convention to strengthen environmental democracy, yesterday rejected attempts to ensure the same public participation rights on decisions regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as for other activities with potentially environmentally-damaging effects, such as nuclear power production. Countries supporting participation in decisions on GMOs, included Norway, Poland and Denmark, and the coalition of environmental groups (ECOs). Negotiations to draft a UN ECE Convention on Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making and Access to Information and Justice have been underway for almost two years, with an unprecedented level of participation by Environmental Citizens Organisations (ECOs). With many issues still unresolved, the Convention is to be signed during the Fourth Pan-European Ministerial Conference, in Aarhus, Denmark, in June this year. The issue of public participation in decisions on GMOs has been particularly controversial, with the German and French Governments initially totally opposed to any participation. During the lunch break yesterday, EU countries met in secret to adopt a common position, in line with the weakest one. In a bid to prevent this happening, Peter Roderick, legal expert with Friends of the Earth and a member of the ECO delegation on the Working Group drafting the Convention, gate-crashed the meeting. He was tricked into leaving, after what he described as "an almighty row". At the start of the afternoon plenary, Roderick walked out of the meeting. Before he left, in an emotionally charged speech, he told the delegates: "I have had difficulties in feeling any sense of pride in the provisions of the draft text, but the indefensible decision to have stronger provisions for public participation in decisions relating to chicken farms than GMOs brings about a feeling of unparalleled anger which moves towards contempt". The resulting text of the Convention requires Governments only to ensure public participation in decisions on the deliberate release of GMOs (and not on ‘contained use’), and only "to the extent feasible and appropriate". This last negotiating session to draft the Convention ends today, with some issues still unresolved. The question of ‘commercial confidentiality exemptions’ to the right to know is especially contentious. According to Jeremy Wates, Co-ordinator of the delegation representing ECOs on the drafting group, "The key issue is whether information on releases of pollutants into the environment should or should not be withheld from the public on the grounds of commercial confidentiality". He summed up the mood of ECOs participating in the drafting session saying, "The efforts of Governments to continuously weaken the text does not bode well for an effective Convention". For Further Information: mara.silina@foeeurope.org - Public Participation Campaign - webmaster |
