Brussels, 19 December 2025 – A qualified majority of EU Member States today backed the deregulation of genetically modified (GM) plants produced using so-called new genomic techniques (NGTs). Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia did not indicate support during this morning’s meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) in Brussels.
In the night of 3 to 4 December, negotiators from the EU Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission reached an agreement on a far-reaching deregulation of plants engineered with new GM techniques such as CRISPR/Cas. Under the deal, almost all requirements of EU GMO legislation would be abolished for this type of GM plants.
Berlin, 2 December 2025 — An alliance of environmental and farming organisations protested today outside the Federal Chancellery against plans to deregulate genetically modified plants created with new genetic modification (GM) techniques. The groups urged the German government to reject any deal emerging from tomorrow’s EU trilogue negotiations unless essential safeguards are included.
At present, only three genetically modified crops developed with new techniques such as CRISPR/Cas are on the market worldwide. That’s the key finding of the New GMOs Market Report, published by the European Non-GMO Industry Association (ENGA) and the US-based Non-GMO Project.
Following the publication of our report “When Chatbots Breed New Plant Varieties”, experts used a publicly accessible AI tool to design a genetically modified (GM) plant with novel insecticidal properties. The experiment shows that the EU’s proposed legislation on new genomic techniques (NGT) would fail to protect the environment from serious harm if it does not take emerging technological capabilities into account.
As stakeholders in the agri-food sector, we call on EU policymakers to ensure the freedom of choice and rights for consumers, supply chain operators, farmers and breeders by upholding mandatory labelling of new GMOs obtained by new genomic techniques (NGTs) as well as traceability across the entire value chain.
Civil society organisations from across Europe have issued a joint statement urging EU decision makers to uphold mandatory labelling and traceability for genetically modified plants developed through new genomic techniques (NGTs), such as CRISPR/Cas.
As final negotiations begin on the proposed deregulation of genetically modified (GM) plants developed with new genomic techniques (NGTs), industry groups are pressuring EU decision-makers to reject mandatory on-package labelling for products containing these GMOs. Save Our Seeds urges EU decision-makers to uphold transparency and protect consumers’ fundamental right to choose what they eat.
The Commission’s proposed Regulation on plants obtained with New Genomic Techniques (NGT) aims to accelerate market access for the latest generation of GM plants and avoid consumer rejection of GM food. The proposal exposes consumers and the environment to unknown risks, jeopardises both organic and conventional GMO-free agricultural production and would lead to a surge of patented GM seeds. Without labelling of final products, consumers would be left in the dark.
On 6 May, final negotiations will begin on the deregulation of plants engineered using new genetic modification (GM) techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas. During so-called trilogue talks, the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and European Commission will finalise an agreed version of the proposed Regulation on plants obtained through “new genomic techniques” (NGT).