Rosa Binimelis shows in an article in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (May 2008) that the co-existence between GMO maize agriculture and "organic" maize agriculture in Catalonia and Aragon is in practice impossible. GMO agriculture crowds out "organic" agriculture. Farmers who try to grow "organic" maize (which obtains a premium in the market) are unable to do so because of "contamination" from GMO maize. The author shows the reasons why attempts to claim liability are ineffective. The research is based on intensive field work and interviews with farmers and other stakeholders.

ABSTRACT. The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Europe has been characterized by controversy. In 2002, the European Union introduced the concept of ‘‘coexistence’’ as a compromise solution that, through the establishment of science-based technical measures, should allow the market to operate freely while reducing policy conflicts on GMOs. However, the concept remains highly contested and the technical measures difficult to apply. This paper presents qualitative research on the conceptualization and implementation of the coexistence framework in two regions of Spain (Catalonia and Aragon), where 42% and 55% of maize was GM in 2006, respectively. In this context, the concept of coexistence and its proposed implementation both fail to resolve previous conflicts and actually work to generate new ones through the individualization of choice and impacts. Considerations of the social conditions in which the technology and the management measures are implemented were not taken into account. This resulted in the promotion of biotechnological agriculture over other alternatives.