It is an unexpected vote, which thwarts the deregulatory ambitions of the European Commission. On Wednesday February 7, the European Parliament voted for a text in favor of stricter regulation of “new GMOs” than Brussels wanted in its legislative proposal. More surprising: the parliamentarians voted in plenary session, by 307 votes for and 236 against, a text more restrictive (or more protective, depending on your point of view) than that adopted in the environment committee.
That same day, the member states failed to agree on a text, with several Eastern European countries being resistant to the diffusion of these new technologies. The lack of consensus found in the European Council makes it unlikely that the legislative project will be finalized during this mandate.
In its proposal, made public in July 2023, the European Commission wanted to deregulate plants resulting from new genomic techniques (NGT for “New Genomic Techniques”), as long as their genome has only undergone twenty modifications at most (or NGT -1): no assessment of health and environmental risks, no traceability, no consumer information through labeling and no specific provision on the patentability of these plants. Brussels intended to deregulate these new crops regardless of the traits added, including those whose deleterious environmental effects are documented, such as tolerance to herbicides. NGTs having undergone a greater number of changes (or NGT-2) would remain subject to the same constraints as classic GMOs.
“It’s a major victory”
MEPs accepted the idea of exempting NGT-1 from risk assessment, provided that these are favorable to improving the sustainability of agriculture (fewer inputs, fixation of nutrients, resistance to diseases, adaptation to warming, etc.). MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew), chairman of the ENVI committee, says he is delighted with the vote, which paves the way for “a new solution for our farmers”. These new technologies, he explains, “will be used only to reduce pesticides or adapt to climate change”.
In fact, NGT varieties which would be made tolerant to herbicides could not benefit from the same regulatory relaxation. Above all, parliamentarians voted in favor of traceability and labeling of these new plants right through to the final product. “This is a major victory that we fought for months for”says French MEP Christophe Clergeau, rapporteur of the text for the S&D group.
You have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.