BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) has welcomed the European Parliament's decision to relax the rules on genetically modified food. The reform promoted by the EU Commission is a "huge opportunity", Stark-Watzinger told the German Press Agency in Berlin on Wednesday. "The current legal situation is completely out of date", emphasized the Minister. "New breeding techniques are an absolute future technology and are full of opportunities for nutrition, climate protection and prosperity."

The planned deregulation is intended to make it easier to create new breeds using modern genetic engineering methods. Advocates of these methods hope to create plants that have more nutrients or are more resistant to climate change. However, the details of a new regulation still have to be negotiated between the EU member states./ax/DP/jha