The petition is seen as a test case for the “European citizen’s initiative,” introduced under the EU’s new constitutional treaty, which enables a million or more people to jointly ask the European Commission to change EU legislation.

Organized by environmental campaigners Greenpeace, the petition calls on the Commission to stop approving GM crops and set up a new scientific body to study the impact of the technology and determine regulations.

It follows the Commission’s decision in March to grant the first EU GM cultivation approval in 12 years for the “Amflora” potato.

“Over a million people across Europe have set the EU a democratic test — will the EU address the real concern people have about GM crops and food, or will it side with the chemical industry lobbyists controlling GM technology?” Greenpeace’s EU Director Jorgo Riss said.

“Until safety issues of GMs are examined by independent experts, all GM authorizations should stop.”

Detailed rules for how the citizen’s initiative will work are currently being finalized by EU governments and lawmakers, and are not expected to be in force until the end of next year, at the earliest.

As a result, the Commission has said the petition cannot officially be regarded as a European citizen’s initiative, as the signatures were collected before the rules have been finalized.

A spokesman for the EU executive said it would treat the signatures “as a petition in the spirit of the citizen’s initiative.”

John Dalli, the EU commissioner responsible for GM policy, said: “I am committed to look seriously at the request made through this initiative.”