The Ministers Persevere
May 29, 2008
Minister Magnette replies to critical questions in the federal Parliament, stating “that the decision may be reconsidered should new elements present themselves”.
June 12, 2008
In order to avoid long legal battles, VIB picks up on this, hoping to achieve through negotiation what it considers to be its proper right. As a token of goodwill, VIB therefore submits a supplementary environmental protocol.
July 1, 2008
It takes nearly three weeks for The Ministers to finally refer this supplementary protocol for an opinion from the Biosafety Advisory Council. They maintain their decision to deny the permit.
July 9, 2008
At the request of VIB’s Minister of Tutelage, Patricia Ceysens, the problem is discussed by the Negotiation Committee, the official negotiation body for conflicts of interests between the regions and the federal government. The Committee orders the concerned federal Ministers Onkelinx en Magnette to set up a workgroup in order to come up with an agreement with the Flemish government “as soon as possible”. The Ministers do not budge an inch.
July 23, 2008
This immobility forces VIB to file a claim with the Council of State, just within the limits of the traditional term of 60 days. VIB is fully supported in this by its Minister of Tutelage (see press release). In the claim, VIB demands the suspension and annulment of the federal Ministers’ decision.
Note: even following a possible annulment, VIB will still not have obtained a permit for the field test. After a possible annulment, the Ministers again have 90 days to grant the permit – or to refuse it.
July 24, 2008
Patricia Ceysens, Flemish Minister of Science, Innovation and Economy, and VIB’s Minister of Tutelage, formally grants permission to “continue, by way of protection, to carry out the VIB research on the use of genetically modified poplars in the development of second generation biofuels, including performing the field test”.
This protective measure (see press release) is taken with the support of the Flemish Minister of the Environment, Hilde Crevits. A Council of State procedure demands time, and the Minister is not prepared to allow the VIB researchers’ work to be wasted, aiming to prevent economic damage and keep VIB’s international credibility intact.
July 25, 2008
VIB plants a border of non-modified poplars around the location intended for the genetically modified trees. Trees on the outer margin or border of a terrain always grow differently than the trees within the group. It makes little sense to plant genetically modified trees in the outermost row of a test field, since there is never any certainty whether any observed deviations are caused by this margin or border effect or by the genetic modification.
The Calvary Continued...
Read here.