ABSTRACT
Geopolitics were ‘kicking in’: there was strong and growing public opposition to living modified organisms in the European Union (EU); and political statements opposing them had been made by EU politicians, notably a few environment ministers, stating positions contrary to that being taken by the EU delegation in the negotiations. The stunned silence that followed underlined the absurdity of the situation, subsequently further heightened as practically every delegation expressed its dissatisfaction – some with very direct language – at the protocol laid out in the chair’s text. The Miami Group, however, trotted out its original position, shaming itself further, but, by way of recompense, it offered to finance further negotiations. The EU had of course been flirting with Africa from the beginning, trying to use us to counterbalance the Miami Group, in the belief that all would ultimately have to move to the middle ground, which it assumed it held.
