I assume that the question refers to the meeting of the regulatory committee for the purposes of Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment which took place on 29 November 2004.
The meeting neither considered nor voted on the issue of genetically modified free zones. It did, however, in accordance with the provisions of the directive, consider eight separate proposals by the European Commission to lift provisional prohibitions. These included proposals from Austria on genetically modified maize T25 and genetically modified maize MON863; Austria, Luxembourg and Germany on genetically modified maize Bt176; Greece and France on genetically modified swede rape Topas 19/2; and France on genetically modified swede rape MS1Bn x RF1Bn. The products concerned had been approved on a Community-wide basis under Directive 90/220/EEC in 1997 and 1998.
The official representing Ireland was mandated to abstain on each of the votes in question, having had regard to my Department's advice and the possible wider implications of the Commission's proposals. Between seven and ten member states, including Ireland, abstained on each of the votes. The outcome of each vote was inconclusive under the qualified majority voting system.
