International green groups attacked Europe's leading food safety agency on Wednesday for its views on biotech crops and foods, saying a recent opinion was flawed and had ignored studies highlighting safety concerns.

The European Union took a step closer on Tuesday toward 10 more years of biotech cultivation after leading scientists reconfirmed the safety of the only genetically modified crop as yet commercially grown in Europe.

That crop is an insect-resistant maize type developed and marketed by U.S. company Monsanto, approved for a decade of growing in 1998 and now awaiting license renewal.

- European Union ministers called on Thursday for urgent action to tighten hunting controls on sharks, which are seriously threatened by chronic overfishing and one of the world's most vulnerable predators.

Europe should push for tighter laws to curb the illegal timber trade by making both importers and exporters get licenses to show their wood does not come from endangered rainforests, lawmakers said on Wednesday.