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