The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council hopes to bring the EU Agriculture Ministers to a common position on the proposal to regulate the use of new genomic techniques (NGT) on Monday 11 December.
It presented a draft compromise (https://aeur.eu/f/a1r ) enabling the EU Council to reach a political agreement (‘general approach’) on NGT plants.
Discussions between Member States are still ongoing, with some delegations expressing concern about the patentability of NGT plants and the possibility for Member States to oppose the authorisation of NGT plants on their soil.
The European Commission’s proposal makes a distinction between NGT plants considered similar to conventional plants (category 1) and other varieties (category 2). Those in the first category benefit from simplified procedures, and an NGT plant must meet detailed equivalence criteria.
The draft general approach suggests keeping the threshold of 20 genetic modifications, but calculating it on a single-locus gene, rather than on the whole genome (see EUROPE 13306/11).
Articles from the initial proposal have been deleted from the compromise text. The provisions of the legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) would therefore continue to apply to category 2 plants. This would allow Member States to adopt ‘opt-outs’ for NGT plants that are not similar to conventional plants, and to introduce coexistence measures (to avoid accidental contamination of non-NGT crops, including those produced by organic farming).
On the sensitive issue of patents, the European Commission would be required to present, by the end of 2026, a study on the impact that patent practices may have on innovation in the field of plant breeding or on the availability of plant reproductive material for farmers. However, several delegations fear that the patentability of NGTs could lead to seed monopolies.
Finally, several EU countries are advocating the compulsory labelling of all category 1 NGT plants, while the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council are sticking to labelling seeds. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)