The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council has abandoned the idea of reaching an agreement by the end of 2023 at Member State level on new genomic techniques (NGTs). The subject was due to be discussed on Wednesday 20 December by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper), but was finally withdrawn from the agenda.
The Belgian Presidency of the EU Council will therefore have to take up the dossier again, and the European Commission’s proposal will be examined at the beginning of 2024 by the EU Council Working Group (see EUROPE 13316/13).
At the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council on 11 December, the ministers did not reach a common position on the proposal governing the use of NGTs, but Luis Planas, the Spanish minister, had expressed the hope of obtaining this agreement at Coreper level by the end of 2023.
He was counting in particular on the appointment of a new pro-European government in Poland (following the defeat of the Conservative government in the elections on 11 December) to swing the majority on this issue. Poland (along with Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia) opposed the Spanish Presidency’s compromise proposal, while Germany and Bulgaria abstained. These countries want to ban the cultivation of NGTs on their territory and to see products labelled for consumers.
The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment had initially hoped to adopt its position in early January with a view to a plenary vote in January or February. The aim being to start negotiations with the Member States as soon as possible, once they have adopted their common position. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)