As the European Parliament gathered to vote on nationalising Genetically Modified (GM) crop approvals, a leaked government email suggested that this will mean GM crop licenses could be fast-tracked in the UK.

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New legislation, which was the subject of a vote by MEPs on Tuesday, will allow individual states to ban or restrict the growing of GM crops on their territory, but permit others to cultivate GMOs once they had been approved by the EU Commission. The new law, which was passed by a large majority, will come into effect in the spring.

In earlier EU Council voting, the UK government stood aside because of disagreements over provisions for member states to place embargoes on GM crops. Given the major political parties' stances on GM, it is likely that the crops will be approved for cultivation in the UK, though many varieties of crop currently awaiting EU approval have been engineered for resistance to pests that aren't found in the country.

Contrary to the UK government position, the devolved governments of Wales and Scotland have pledged to remain GM-free.

On Tuesday, The Guardian published excerpts from a leaked email between Sarah Cundy, the UK's head of GM policy and regulation, and the National Farmers' Union, in which Cundy states, "New [GM crop] applications should be approved much more quickly than has been the case until now."

Cundy also said, "We feel that the deal's mandatory co-existence measures on borders between those member states who are cultivating GM crops and those that are not are too restrictive."

Last week, as major agricultural conferences were being held in Oxford, Soil Association Policy Director Peter Melchett said that the Oxford Farming Conference popular with mainstream politicians and food industry leaders has "for decades" given the impression that GM crops are "almost the only new development in agriculture worth discussing."

Speaking on Tuesday, Melchett expressed concerns that, "The rights of farmers who do not wish to grow GM crops, particularly in England, are under threat by this proposal. Indeed, the entire organic sector, growing rapidly in Europe and which may double by 2020, is in danger – as are the rights of anyone who wants to buy GM free foods."

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South-East England, commented after the vote, "This agreement is not all it seems. While giving EU countries new powers to ban GMOs – I believe what this will mean… more GMOs [in the UK] not fewer. This is because our pro-GM Government are now able to give the go-ahead to more authorisations.

"I remain convinced that GMOs cause contamination of crops, are bad for our health and that small scale sustainable agriculture is the answer to solving future food shortages."

Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, have also warned that national bans could actually be difficult to implement, as member states cannot cite environmental impacts of the controversial crops as a reason for restricting their cultivation if these impacts are covered by Commission watchdog EFSA's assessment, which they argue is flawed.

At the time of the compromise vote GM crops were banned in eight EU countries, though the legality of these moratoriums has been challenged by European courts and seed companies.

The Parliament vote saw 480 MEPs vote in favour of the 'compromise' proposals, with 159 against and 58 abstentions.