European Parliament heads for tight vote on plant gene editing

With the European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) set to vote on new genomic techniques (NGTs) on 24 January, the dossier is becoming increasingly divisive, with the right-wing groups aligning to push it through – and the left remaining split.

ENVI committee MEPs will vote next Wednesday (24 January) on the proposal for new rules for innovative types of gene-edited plants, which currently fall under the more restrictive genetically modified organisms (GMO) framework, to get the law approved in plenary before the end of this legislative mandate.

A political meeting scheduled for today was replaced by a technical meeting, sources from the European Parliament told Euractiv, as European People’s Party (EPP), Renew, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and Identity and Democracy (ID) MEPs are those most aligned to vote in favour of the draft report by EPP’s Jessica Polfjärd, the rapporteur on the dossier. 

Those groups agree that the requirements of the GMO directive – which dates back to 1999 – are not suited for new techniques that could potentially lead to more targeted and precise modifications of plant genomes and improve the environmental performance of agriculture.

However, French socialist MEP Christophe Cleargeau, shadow rapporteur on the file, urged Polfjärd to “re-start” discussions on the proposal after the French health authority (ANSES) published a report in December saying that some of the EU executive’s criteria for classifying NGTs lacked a scientific basis.

Clergeau, who participated in the demonstration against NGTs last week, accused the rapporteur of dismissing ANSES’s conclusions and said she was “not respond[ing]” to calls from scientists and civil society to reconsider her draft. 

Political debate on plants’ gene editing resumes amid NGO protests

Political groups in the European Parliament will try to reach a deal on gene editing next Tuesday (16 January), while experts in the Council seek to untangle the controversial points of the legislation and NGOs protest in Brussels.

After a meeting on Tuesday, sources from the Social and Democrats (S&D) said that the group “need[s] further internal discussion” before finding a line for the vote.

In the demonstration, also Green MEPs sounded the alarm about the risks of NGTs, claiming they could have unintended consequences for human health and ecosystems.

The issue of patents

Member states are still discussing at the expert level, with the patentability of NGT-based products being the biggest rift in the EU Council, according to sources close to the matter. 

In December, EU agriculture ministers failed to reach a position on the new rules, with many raising concerns over the EU executive’s decision to leave the question of patents unanswered.

This would leave the door open for NGTs to be patented under GMO rules, which some countries fear could limit farmers’ and scientists’ access to the new plant varieties. 

“We are working on the file and trying to advance on it as soon as possible,” Belgian EU Council presidency sources told Euractiv. After two meetings at the expert level last week, however, “the text is not yet ready for a debate at political level” and this is why “the item is not on the agenda of the upcoming” agriculture ministers meeting, which will take place on January 23. 

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro/Nathalie Weatherald]

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