In the name of the precautionary principle, a group of 31 MEPs from five political groups are calling on the European Commission to invest more in research into the health and environmental risks of GMOs derived from new genomic techniques and the analytical detection methods for these new GMOs (see EUROPE 12801/6).
At issue are new genetic engineering processes such as CRISPR/Cas, which can change the genetic make-up of plants even more profoundly and rapidly than is possible with conventional breeding and for which the institution suggests it wants to relax the rules in the EU (see EUROPE 12858/16, 12786/12).
In a letter to Commissioners Mariya Gabriel (Research and Innovation), Stella Kyriakides (Health) and Virginijus Sinkevičius (Environment), these 31 MEPs (from the Greens/EFA, S&D, EPP, Renew Europe, and The Left groups) point out that these GMOs present “new and different risks compared to conventional breeding and to GMOs commercialised today”.
In their view, only specific European research will make it possible to develop state-of-the-art risk assessment and detection methods for these products.
They are concerned that the EU has so far not invested in such research, given the European Commission’s answers to their written questions on the subject.
“Existing GMO monitoring strategies are insufficient to detect the presence of these new GMOs, especially when they do not contain foreign genetic material. We are convinced that the EU can and must meet these challenges in order to maintain a high level of protection for our public health and the environment”, the signatories state.
In the opinion of Martin Haüsling (Greens/EFA, Germany), member of the European Parliament’s Environment and Agriculture committees, “it is simply not good enough that, in the space of 4 years, the Commission should spend €271 million on research into new genetic engineering in plants, while only supporting projects that advance the processes themselves and their application”.
See the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/98 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)