National bans on two genetically modified maize varieties are to continue in Austria and Hungary, brining into question the effectiveness of the whole EU approvals process.

Environment ministers from all 27 EU member states this week rejected an attempt by the EU Commission to force these two countries to lift their bans on Monsanto’s Mon810 – the only GM maize currently approved for cultivation in the EU.

The bans in Austria and Hungary were put in place in 2005, and the EU commission last year tabled proposals to overturn them, insisting that there were no human or environmental dangers to justify them.

But the regulatory committee, made up of member states’ representatives, was split on the issue, meaning it then went to environment ministers for a decision.

That came this week, with 22 ministers saying the bans could stay and only the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Estonia supporting the commission.

GM industry body EuropaBio condemned the decision, describing it as “a political side-step that goes against the wishes of Europe’s farmers”.

“It is incomprehensible that some member states choose to ignore the overwhelming scientific evidence as to the safety of these GM products and the commercial reality of their safe growth and consumption for more than a decade around the world,” said EuropaBio’s Nathalie Moll.

“The outcome is even more worrying given that GM crops are a key tool for increasing food production, to offset the potential of food price rises,” she added, pointing out that both Hungary and Austria are bordered by countries where the GM maize is grown.

But environmental group Friends of the Earth applauded the move by environment ministers to allow the two countries to maintain their bans.

“Despite the best efforts of the EU commission and the pro-GM UK government, this vote is a clear sign that other European countries will not be forced into taking unsound decisions regarding their environment, their farming and their citizens’ health,” said anti-GM campaigner Kirtana Chandrasekaran.

France and Greece also have unilateral bans on cultivating GM crops, which the EU Commission is trying to overturn, though it is likely to have the same lack of success.

Last December EU environment ministers called for an overhaul of the whole GM approvals process and the current impasse over the lifting of national bans will add weight to that initiative.