The area of European farmland sown with genetically modified (GM) crops declined by just over 2% in 2008, but this decrease was largely due to a ban introduced in France last year due to public opposition.

A report published on 29 September by EuropaBio, an association for biotech industries, said that GM maize was grown on a total of 107,719 hectares in seven EU states, down from 110,007 in 2007.

In 2007, France was the EU's second-largest producer of GM maize, the one GM crop allowed in the EU.

Spain remains by far the largest producer of GM crops in the EU, accounting for some 74% of the total.

The year saw big increases in the area sown with GM maize in a number of countries: in Poland and Romania the increase was ten-fold, in Slovakia the area doubled and in the Czech Republic there was a 68% increase. The Czech Republic is the second-largest cultivator of GM crops in the EU.

Currently, the only type of GM crop grown in the EU is Bt Maize, a crop that was authorised ten years ago. A further 19 GM crops are awaiting EU approval.

While large agricultural producers such the US, Argentina and Brazil grow large quantities of GM crops, Europeans continue to debate their benefit. In September, the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's in-house research body, said that GM crops themselves do not affect human health. However, a study published by Friends of the Earth Europe in January 2008 found that GM crops lead to an increase in pesticide use by encouraging the development of pesticide-resistant
weeds, thereby increasing human exposure to chemicals in food.