Europe

In July 2023, the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate GMOs was presented and understood as concerning only plants. Micro-organisms, animals and fungi would not be concerned. However, a careful reading will show that, contrary to what the European Parliament seems to have understood, some micro-organisms are indeed concerned… because they are considered to be plants!

A year and a half ago, France made it compulsory to vaccinate farmed ducks against the avian influenza virus, in order to protect its meat and foie gras industries. To date, France is the only country to have taken this vaccination route. One of the two vaccines used, the self-amplifying messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, raises questions.

In February 2025, two statements opposing the European Commission’s proposal to deregulate GMOs were published. On 11 February 2025, more than 200 organisations, including farming unions, NGOs, small and medium-sized breeders, and players in the organic and non-GMO sectors, published a “joint declaration on the deregulation of new GMOs”. On 21 February 2025, more than 70 French players in the organic sector published a collective opinion piece online in Mediapart.

Patents involving the use of nanos* in agriculture have multiplied over the last 20 years. However, there has been no improvement in the availability of information in this field. A recent report, commissioned by AVICENN and published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), re-emphasizes the need to change European regulations in order to better identify, assess and manage nanos in the fields and the food. AVICENN is calling for greater transparency on the marketing and risks of nanomaterials that have long been used in agriculture.

Since July 2023, the issue of patents on living organisms has been at the heart of debates in the European Union. These debates were sparked by the European Commission’s proposal to stop assessing the risks associated with GMOs, to stop labelling them as such, and to put an end to their detection and identification. In December 2024, a conference allowed several stakeholders of the debate to express their opinion.

In March 2024, the European Commission announced measures aimed at driving what it called a “biotechnology revolution”, including a proposal for a “law” in 2025. This announcement came at a time when a number of legislative dossiers relating to biotechnology had already reached an impasse, such as the deregulation of plant GMOs. As Denmark, a fervent supporter of biotechnology, prepares to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from July 2025, is the Commission planning to bring everything together in a general “biotech law” to complicate political debates and force the issue through? The European Parliament has just taken up the issue on its own initiative.

The algae that live in rivers and the sea have been the focus of a great deal of attention in recent years. Whether micro, macro, green, brown, red… they are currently at the heart of an industrial development project for which the European Commission is active. These GMO algae could be deregulated if the European Commission’s July 2023 proposal were to be approved, as they will undergo genetic modification to be transformed into production facilities for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and agrofuels. This article is a first dive into a world that has gone unnoticed until now.

In July 2023, the proposal to deregulate GMOs obtained using new genetic modification techniques (known as “new genomic techniques” – NGTs) highlighted a sensitive issue that is still under discussion: patents. Patents are fiercely criticised for their many negative effects on the rights of farmers and traditional seed producers, as well as on biodiversity. A report commissioned by the European Green Party addresses this issue and suggests ways out of the impasse.

In January 2025, Poland, president of the Council of Europe, put a proposal on the table of EU member states to “solve” the patent problem that had arisen in the debate on deregulating GMOs obtained by new techniques. Complex and of uncertain effectiveness, the Polish proposal has plunged everyone into doubt. Discussions on this text may therefore not be concluded before Denmark, whose government supports total deregulation of GMOs, takes over the presidency of the European Union.

For a year and a half, the Council of the European Union has been unable to reach an agreement on the deregulation of GMOs, mainly because of the problems posed by patents on those GMOs or on the techniques used to obtain them. According to Copa-Cogeca, those two issues should be dealt with separately. Its proposal is to adopt the deregulation of GMOs as quickly as possible and postpone the study of the problem posed by patents. Even if it means forgetting that farmers are indeed affected by patents.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Svalbard, Norway), often nicknamed the “seed vault”, plays a special role in preserving genetic biodiversity. Its main mission, focused on the long-term conservation of seed samples, is officially to preserve the diversity of plant genetic resources and ensure their accessibility in the event of disasters. However, a closer look at how it works reveals the considerable influence and interests of pro-GMO players in its governance. Who will really benefit from Svalbard, the multinationals or the farmers?

Mon810 maize is the only transgenic GM plant authorized for commercial cultivation in the European Union. This authorization was initially granted, via France, almost 30 years ago, in 1998, for an initial period of 10 years. A renewal application was submitted in 2007. Since then, no decision has been taken by the European authorities. How this maize, which authorization theoretically expired in 2008, can still be grown legally in Europe? Simply because European law accepts that, as long as the European Commission has not responded to a request for renewal, the initial authorization remains valid. To date, it’s been 15 years that the Commission fails to respond to Bayer/Monsanto’s request.