A new genetically modified corn, US firm Pioneer's TC1507, has won EU approval in controversial fashion after a large majority of member states failed to block it.
A meeting of European Affairs ministers from the 28-member bloc could not establish a definitive position either way, Greek chairman Evangelos Venizelos said, citing EU procedural rules.
Accordingly, TC1507 was allowed through and handed over to the European Commission for the next step in authorisation.
The rules require that "if the Council (of member states) does not take a decision, then the measure has to be adopted by the European Commission", a legal adviser said.
The outcome sparked outrage among environmental groups, with Greenpeace charging the commission was acting illegally.
"The commission cannot ignore the scientific, political and legal concerns voiced by a large majority of countries, by two-thirds of the European Parliament and supported by most EU citizens," it said in a statement.
"The commission must learn from its mistakes and stop breaching the rules that help ensure the safety of what is grown in Europe."
A spokesman for Pioneer, a unit of US giant DuPont, said it will take another two years to get TC1507 on the market.
"Today is not the day to celebrate if you look at the already 13-year-long process," he said.
The complex majority-voting system weighs member states according to their size to ensure that it is a majority of the EU's 500 million population that decides an issue, not the simple number of countries for or against.
In this instance, 19 nations were opposed but they had only 210 votes of the required 260 to block the measure.
Britain, Finland, Estonia, Spain and Sweden were in favour, but abstentions proved crucial.
Germany, the EU's most powerful and biggest country with 19 votes, changed its position to abstain from against, thereby taking itself out of the balance.
