In Brussels on Monday 11 December, the EU agriculture ministers failed to reach a common position on the proposal for a regulation on new genomic techniques (NGTs).
Luis Planas, the current President of the EU Council, said that the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council would continue to discuss the dossier at a technical level with a view to reaching a political agreement (‘general approach’) by the end of 2023 at Coreper level (Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU). In this case, the future Belgian Presidency of the EU Council could lead negotiations with the EU Council on the NGT proposal (see EUROPE 13310/17).
At Monday’s EU Council meeting, Poland, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia indicated that they were voting against the draft compromise of 7 December (https://aeur.eu/f/a2t ) presented by the Spanish Presidency (with adjustments suggested on Monday), while Germany and Bulgaria abstained.
Luis Planas felt that an agreement was very close, hoping in particular for a change in the Polish position with the appointment of a new pro-European government to swing the majority on this issue.
The latest compromise on the table proposes that varieties made tolerant to herbicides should not qualify for classification as category 1 NGTs (those considered equivalent to conventional plants). These category 1 NGTs would be banned in the organic sector. Furthermore, Member States wishing to do so could ban the cultivation of category 2 NGT plants (which are subject to the requirements of the GMO Directive) on their territory. Finally, in 2025, the European Commission will have to present a report on the question of the patentability of these NGTs, which is worrying many Member States.
The NGO Friends of the Earth Europe called on the European Parliament to reject the Commission’s legislative proposal, while Greenpeace welcomed the fact that EU countries had failed to reach an agreement “on such an unacceptable proposal”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)