Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho

In 2009, Spain was the first EU GMO plants producer (76.075 ha of
94.750 ha, total production of the EU). Besides, Spanish authorities
are more tolerant to GMO plants than EU administrators. Between
1998 and 2005 culture of maize Bt 176 was not authorised by the EU.
It was, in contrast, allowed in Spain.
In spite of their great extension, GMO cultivated area in Spain is
far away from the areas in USA (64 millions of ha.), Brasil (21’4 m.ha),
Argentina (21’3m.ha) or India (8’4 m.ha).
Inside Europe, Aragon is clearly the first region in GMO plants production,
while in Murcia, climate characteristics have stimulated an only
occasional cultivation. In the next section, we will try to determine how
these economic conditions have an influence in the discussion about
GMO plants and food in Murcia’s and Aragon’s main newspapers.
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5. Some Political Philosophy Questions about GMO cultivation
and federalism
DEMOCRACY TODAY
While discussing about GMO plants and food, we should take into
account that we are facing a debate in which two irreconcilable visions
of nature are fighting. For the partisans of gen technologies, the innovations
in that field allow us to increase the global production of food
(a solution to huger in the world) and the nutritional qualities of some
plants. On the other hand, ecologists, green and left groups underline
some health risk usually associated to the use of gen techniques and
alert about the increasing economic influence of great pharmaceutical
and agricultural enterprises like Syngenta or Bayern. They are some
of the economic groups, associations and lobbyers that take part in a
complicated debate where there is not and perhaps, there cannot be a
satisfactory solution to all the actors involved.
Is federalism a good political model to carry on discussing about
problems with a non evident solution? Subsidiary application of communitarian
decisions about GMO food has been the key tool in the
EU regulation of GMO plants cultures and importation. While the
WTO agreements avoid any attempt of limiting the importation of
GMO, Article 23 of Directive 2001/18 give the State members the pos-