THE GMO DEBATE IN LUXEMBOURG

UNCLAS LUXEMBOURG 000558 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EB/TPP/ABT/BTT JACK BOBO THE HAGUE FOR ROGER WENTZEL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR TBIO PREL PGOV LU SUBJECT: THE GMO DEBATE IN LUXEMBOURG ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Three members of the Luxembourg government were featured participants at a recent Greenpeace-sponsored anti-genetically modified organisms (GMO) event. GOL officials stated their intent to do only the absolute minimum in order to comply with EU directives concerning GMOs, and indicated they had no plans to change their policy of staunch opposition to GMOs. Statements like these and the high-level of GOL participation in this event underscore the depth of the GOL,s willingness to pander to a highly vocal group. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Luxembourg Minister of Transportation and Environment Lucien Lux and Minister of Health Mars di Bartolomeo were joined by Secretary of State for Agriculture Octavie Modert and MP Jean Paul Schaff at an October 8th Greenpeace-sponsored event entitled "Luxembourg Without GMOs." As suggested by the title, this was an unbalanced event as every presenter and organization represented was firmly opposed to GMOs. Most participants wanted Luxembourg to do more to combat GMOs and invoked Luxembourg,s UNESCO-designated World Heritage fortifications coining the phrase "Luxembourg: A Fortress Against GMOs." ¶3. (SBU) Schaff, who is the MP responsible for shepherding the co-existence legislation through Luxembourg,s Parliament (Note: This legislation has been an ongoing work-in-progress since 2004. End note),said that Luxembourg was not changing its position regarding its ban on the marketing and sales of GMOs. He said that the government was seeking a way to placate the European Commission and implement the EU directives regarding co-existence, but not change its position on GMOs at all. Several speakers, including Health Minister Bartolomeo said that they were not opposed to biotechnology research which would benefit humans; just GMOs. They gave no details as to how they thought this division could be drawn. ¶4. (SBU) Even though GOL officials presented a unified front at the Grenpeace event, Embassy officers spoke with an official from the Ministry of Agriculture who told us that he was disturbed at the one-sidedness of this conference and even confided that he personally was undecided on GMOs. He added that despite his concerns, he had been instructed by his Ministry superiors to represent the GOL position as firmly opposed to GMOs. ¶5. (SBU) Press reporting of the event was mostly positive, receiving coverage in three of the four major daily newspapers. The one notable negative exception was a radio and newspaper editorial by former Luxembourg Minister of the Economy and current Luxembourg MEP Robert Goebbels. In his comments, Goebbels blasted the GOL's anti-GMO position as anti-growth and derided the state of debate over GMOs in Luxembourg as "ridiculous" for being completely unscientific and dominated by groups such as Greenpeace. He applauded efforts of those forward-looking members of Luxembourg,s cabinet, such as Economic Minister Jeannot Krecke, to promote biotechnology companies relocating to Luxembourg, but warned "those companies would never come to Luxembourg when they discovered...the GOL's anti-GMO position." ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: The festive atmosphere at this event included a satirical presentation entitled "The Genetically Modified Peach," games and face painting for children, and a certified GMO-free lunch. The event provided a great opportunity for members of the GOL to cozy up to a highly vocal group which has managed to gain a stranglehold on the issue in Luxembourg. It is obvious that the GOL has taken this position because it garners them the support of this active segment of society at little political cost. Unfortunately, the voices of those such as MEP Goebbels who plead for a scientific debate are drowned out by this group. Post will continue to engage with GOL decision-makers and through its public outreach efforts to promote a more balanced debate on GMOs. KRAFT