Greenpeace EU media briefing – December 2023

The Spanish Presidency of the EU is pressing ahead with a European Commission plan to deregulate a new brand of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). EU agriculture ministers meeting on Sunday 10 December and Monday 11 December will be asked for their views on the plan, with the aim of achieving a common position for governments, ahead of negotiations with the European Parliament.

The EU agriculture ministers did not approve the proposal to deregulate plants derived from new genetic engineering (New GE, also new genomic techniques, NGT) at their meeting on 11 December. The Spanish EU Council Presidency put the regulatory proposal to the vote with only minor amendments. If approved, the Commission proposal would allow the release and marketing of genetically engineered plants, e. g. plants altered with CRISPR/Cas gene scissors, without prior mandatory risk assessment.

Calls for mandatory risk assessment intensify

The EU agriculture ministers did not approve the proposal to deregulate plants derived from new genetic engineering (New GE, also new genomic techniques, NGT) at their meeting on 11 December. The Spanish EU Council Presidency put the regulatory proposal to the vote with only minor amendments. If approved, the Commission proposal would allow the release and marketing of genetically engineered plants, e. g. plants altered with CRISPR/Cas gene scissors, without prior mandatory risk assessment. Several agriculture ministers very clearly disagreed with the proposal, and demanded that the risks must be examined on a case-by-case basis before any approval is granted.

Today's outcome is "a relief for nature protection, our right to transparency, our right to know what we buy and eat, and our freedom of choice"

Today Europe's agriculture ministers challenged the Spanish presidency's proposal to widely deregulate the new generation of genetically modified plants (new GMOs, or now so-called "new genomic techniques" or NGT). The ministers' evident lack of support[1] is a warning to lawmakers that excluding new GMOs from the current EU GMO rules would flood European fields with patented new GM seeds and increase monopolies in the farming sector.

The EU Council has rejected a Spanish bid to forge a joint position on a proposed deregulation of genetically modified (GM) crops produced using new genomic techniques (NGTs), with governments voicing concerns over safety, labelling and social acceptance.

BRUSSELS, 30 NOVEMBER 2023 – Speaking at an online press conference this morning, Jan Plagge, President of IFOAM Organics Europe, called on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and Member States to respect organic farmers and operators’ choice to not use novel genomic techniques (NGTs) and maintain the ban on the use of NGTs in organic production as laid out in the Commission’s proposal. Bernard Lignon, IFOAM Organics Europe Board member and sector representative for processing and trade, called on policymakers to include full traceability on the use of NGTs in the production chain and the possibility for coexistence measures at national level in the legislative proposal.

In a joint position paper, 139 associations and organisations have called on the German government and the European Parliament to reject the EU Commission's proposed deregulation of genetic engineering.

The European Commission has launched a proposal for the (de-)regulation of new genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). As academics, from a vast range of disciplines, including agroecology, political ecology, rural sociology, molecular biology, environmental history, population genetics, evolutionary biology, ecology, agronomy and innovation studies, we are very concerned about the quality of this legislative proposal, the process by which it came into being, and the social, economic and environmental impacts it will have, should it be adopted. Moreover, we have serious questions about the way in which climate and sustainability goals are being used to justify this (de-)regulation.

Appeal: Regulate new genetic engineering and repair patent loopholes!

Brussels/Vienna, November 17, 2023 – Ahead of the EU Agriculture Councilexternal link, opens in a new tabOn November 20th, the signatory organizations sounded the alarm to the agriculture ministers: “We are deeply concerned about the growing flood of patent applications for new genetic engineering seeds and NGT plants in Europe. This uncontrolled development has negative impacts on breeders, farmers and food production. We are at a crucial point where we must set the course for the future of our agriculture and biodiversity. Agriculture Minister Totschnig is now required to forge alliances with other EU agriculture ministers in order to avert these dangerous developments for Austria's agriculture! ", say the international organizations ARCHE NOAH, the small farmers' association European Coordination Vía Campesina, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Corporate Europe Observatory, FIAN International, ENGA - European Non-GMO Industry Association, NO PATENTS ON SEEDS! and GLOBAL 2000.

Sign the petition to EU decision makers!

The new EU seed law proposed by the European Commission in July 2023 threatens the conservation and circulation of crop diversity. It disregards farmers’ right to harvest, use, exchange and sell their own seeds, as enshrined in international law. It is unacceptable.