Broad coalition fights for GMO-free agriculture and food production
To date, genetic engineering in the agricultural value chain has been regulated in the EU through strict precautionary and coexistence measures. So far, almost no genetically modified crops have been grown in Europe due to opposition from consumers and the market. New genetic engineering (NGT), on the other hand, is to be largely deregulated when it comes to plants and their products. In reality, however, NGT can cause harm to health, the environment, and non-GMO economic systems.
That is why a broad coalition representing plant breeding and propagation, agriculture, food processing and trade, wild plant propagation, and industry associations is challenging the NGT Regulation.
The direct action was filed with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and is directed against the legislative bodies, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The NGT Regulation entered into force in June 2026 and is set to take effect on June 17, 2028.
“The NGT Regulation opens the floodgates to the deregulation of new genetic technologies,” said Annemarie Volling, coordinator of the direct legal action and genetic engineering expert at the Working Group for Peasant Agriculture (AbL) e.V.
“The regulation takes away consumers’ freedom of choice. Despite the risks, NGT-1 plants are neither tested nor labeled, even though they cannot be reversed. There are no provisions for transparency, buffer zone regulations, or a site registry. This means that contamination of our seeds, crops, and food is inevitable. The economic viability of nature-oriented, GMO-free agriculture—which operates using conventional and organic methods and is committed to providing GMO-free products to its customers—is under threat.”
“This regulation violates fundamental economic rights, such as the right to freedom of enterprise and the right to property. It also violates the principles of precaution, a high level of environmental protection, and consumer protection. However, the high threshold for admissibility of the lawsuit poses a problem; nevertheless, we are confident that the court will be receptive to our arguments,” said Professor Dr. Gerd Winter, an expert in European law at the University of Bremen and, along with attorney Katrin Brockmann (Berlin) and attorney Jens Beismann (Hanover), legal counsel for the lawsuit. Winter pointed out that as early as 2018, the European Court of Justice had ruled that new genetic engineering must also be regulated (ECJ, judgment of July 25, 2018, C-528/16).
Summary of the grounds for the lawsuit against the NGT Regulation:
* Scientifically incorrect assumptions regarding the equivalence of NGT-1 to conventional breeding
* Elimination of precautionary environmental impact assessments
* Lack of information, verification, and labelling requirements for NGT-1 plants
* Lack of protective measures against contamination (site registry and buffer zone regulations for NGT-1 cultivation) as well as the ability for Member States to impose cultivation bans
* Reversal of the “polluter pays” principle: Burdens and follow-on costs are imposed on society and on GMO-free food production
* Patenting of plants, products, and traits limits breeding diversity and leads to monopolization of the seed market
* Expectations regarding NGT plants, such as climate resilience and pest resistance, are mere speculation
* These reasons result in a violation of fundamental economic rights and primary EU environmental law.
Information
More information (in German) here
