European Union

“The […] new legislative changes, designed to fast-track approvals for open releases of GMMs into the environment, fail to protect human health and the environment. These proposals should therefore be abandoned and GMMs should remain in contained use, with no open releases into the environment”. This is the conclusion of the report, published by GeneWatch UK, which analyses the implications of the European Commission’s legislative proposal currently under discussion in Brussels. The proposal aims to establish a (very) fast-track authorisation procedure for the placing on the market of genetically modified micro-organisms.

Whilst the deregulation of GM plants produced using new techniques of genetic modification (GMO/NGT) was adopted on 17 June 2026, experts from several Member States had, as early as 2023, expressed their doubts and disagreements regarding the assumptions put forward by the European Commission. They were also disappointed for not having been consulted before the legislative proposal was drafted. Despite this, their objections fell on deaf ears.

The European Commission wants to deregulate genetically modified bacteria, yeasts and viruses in order to reduce the time it takes for them to be placed on the market, the risk assessments carried out on them, and the information provided to operators and the public… This is the package of measures proposed from December 2025! Under the guise of a so-called urgent need for action, the Commission has cut corners by failing to consult the public on this issue and by withholding certain documents, including a key “impact assessment”.

The argument that the European Union must catch up with other countries by deregulating GMOs produced using new genetic modification techniques (GMOs/NGTs) is repeated ad nauseam by their proponents. However, at the end of 2025, an OECD report reviewed the legislation in force in some of the largest GMO-producing countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States, etc.). And the least one can say is that the international legislative landscape is highly varied.

New genetic modification techniques (NGTs) are presented by their proponents as a mean of promoting innovation in seed production and broadening farmers’ choices. However, the US experience shows that deregulating GMOs is not enough to make them accessible to users. According to a 2023 report by the US Department of Agriculture, the significant increase in patent fees on GMOs is hindering access to seeds in general. Europe, which has just adopted its regulation on GMOs produced using NGTs, arguing that it is necessary to boost variety innovation, was nevertheless aware of this report on the situation in the US.

In an opinion piece published on 22 July 2026 on a French media’s website Mediapart, sixteen representatives of French organisations have expressed alarm at the potential deregulation of genetically modified micro-organisms. This deregulation, proposed by the European Commission in December 2025, has already received initial approval from the Council of the European Union, including that of the French government. In their opinion piece, the signatories specifically call on the French government “to make a genuine change in stance and to take a firm stand against this deregulation of GMOs”.

According to the European Commission, biocontrol products are intended to be a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides. However, as we saw in a previous article, the Commission plans to group products that are genuinely low-risk together with products derived from biotechnologies – whose risks have not been assessed – under the single term “biocontrol”. Yet, the term “biocontrol” creates confusion by fostering the illusion that it is a technique akin to organic farming. What is the reality?

The adoption of the future European regulation on plant reproductive material, known as the ‘seeds regulation’, has entered its final stages. The ‘provisional compromise’ is presented as a modernisation of the current legislation. Among other things, it extends the market for conservation varieties across the entire European Union and regulates the non-commercial exchange of seeds between farmers. However, this compromise has not achieved consensus. Whilst the peasant farmers’ organisation ECVC is calling for its rejection, organisations defending cultivated biodiversity welcome some of the progress made. The seed industry and the mainstream agricultural unions, for their part, welcome a framework that reinforces the current market organisation.

Since 2022, the German seed company KWS has been developing a range of patent licences covering “native traits”. Presented as a means of “promoting innovation in plant breeding”, this strategy illustrates how patents can be used to control the use of these “native traits”, even though they are already present in biodiversity. This approach by the German seed company, which is also known for its aggressive policy of defending its intellectual property, also highlights the current limitations of European patent law.

On Tuesday 16 June 2026, the Council of the European Union achieved a qualified majority to enter into negotiations with the European Parliament on a draft directive that would allow the release of genetically modified micro-organisms into the environment under less stringent regulatory conditions. France has declared its support for this draft directive. This decision endorses the European Commission’s proposal of 16 December 2025 as part of the “Biotech Acts”. These latter aim to simplify regulations for the benefit of businesses.

Presented as an alternative to chemical pesticides, biocontrol operates on a logic of substitution that allows the pesticide industry to “green” its operations. Worse still, biocontrol products could overshadow beneficial approaches such as peasant agroecology or biological pest control. To facilitate the marketing of biocontrol substances, the European Commission proposed a definition and simplified regulations in the draft Omnibus X regulation in December 2025.

On Wednesday 17 June 2026, MEPs adopted the compromise text deregulating GMOs produced using new genetic modification techniques (GMO/NGT). This text, which is identical to that adopted by the Council of the EU on 21 April 2026, means that GMO/NGT will be able to be placed on the market in the EU without authorisation, without risk assessment, without labelling (except on seed lots) and without the publication of methods for detecting and identifying them. It will come into force in 2028.