Phil Hogan has formally been approved as the new EU agriculture commissioner by the European Parliament. The vote on Wednesday saw 423 votes in favour of Jean Claude Juncker’s team, with 209 against. Sixty-seven MEPs abstained.

One issue awaiting the new Commssion is the approval of a number of GM feed varieties.

A final vote by the 28 commissioners is needed to approve the crops – two types of maize, four types of soybean, and rapeseed and cotton varieties. But no vote has yet been scheduled. The crops have already been approved by regulatory committees.

A number of commissioners are believed to have some issues with licensing the crops.

Commission president Juncker plans to review the GM licensing laws within six months of taking office in November. He has suggested that the view of the majority of member states should count as strongly as the scientific evidence.

Improving democracy

Mr Juncker has named this issue among his ideas for improving EU democracy, arguing that it is “simply not right that under the current rules, the Commission is legally forced to authorise new [GM] organisms for import and processing, even though a clear majority of member states is against”.

Food and feed chain lobby groups and farmers’ lobby Copa-Cogeca are urging the new Commission to approve the crops as soon as possible to prevent supply problems.

The products are now on the international market and the EU ban will result in rejections at the border that will disrupt trade and supply, a second industry source said.