Reuters | December 1, 1999 | By Anthony Boadle
SEATTLE - The 15 governments of the European Union rapped the European Commission on Wednesday, according to this story, for making a surprise concession to the United States on biotechnology in world trade negotiations, European diplomats said.
The European Commission, the executive branch that negotiates for the 15-member trade bloc, agreed to set up a working group to discuss biotech issues within the World Trade Organisation meeting here.
Environmental groups promptly accused the EC of caving in to Washington by accepting to treat the controversial issue, which covers genetically modified crops, as a trade matter rather than an environmental or health problem in a new round of trade talks the WTO hopes to launch this week in Seattle.
Environment ministers of France, Denmark, Belgium and Britain said they were opposed to the idea.
At a later meeting on Wednesday, all 15 trade ministers of the European Union took European Commissioner Pascal Lamy to task for negotiating beyond his mandate.
