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1. Find me if you can – detecting gene-edited plants in the EU food chain
2. Genetically engineering wild species: protection or destruction of nature?
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1. Find me if you can – detecting gene-edited plants in the EU food chain

Invitation to live webinar

Date and time:
10 Dec 2020, 16:00-17:30 CET (Brussels time)

Register here.

Organised by the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament

EU governments are worried that GM plants engineered with so-called “gene editing” cannot be distinguished from similar, non-GM plants and therefore cannot be regulated.

Based on such “practical questions”, they asked the Commission to assess, by April 2021, whether these plants should continue to be regulated under EU GMO law.

In September, a coalition of scientists, NGOs and non-GM food retailers announced an open-source detection method for the first commercialised gene-edited crop, Cibus’ SU Canola, an oilseed rape grown in Canada and the US. Based on standard GMO detection technology, the test can be readily integrated into the analytical routine of any regulatory or commercial GMO testing laboratory.

But the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), which chairs the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL), has said the test “cannot be applied for unequivocal detection, identification and quantification” of this unauthorised GM crop.

During the webinar, we will hear the views of those who developed the detection method, of the European Commission and of MEPs from the Greens/EFA, S&D and GUE groups.

Speakers:

Heike Moldenhauer, EU Policy Advisor, German Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG)

Eric Gall, Deputy Director, IFOAM Organics Europe

Dr John Fagan, CEO and Chief Scientist, Health Research Institute

Dr Hendrik Emons, Head of Unit, Food and Feed Compliance, Joint Research Centre (European Commission)

Hosted by MEPs Eleonora Evi, Martin Häusling, Anja Hazekamp, Tilly Metz, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Günther Sidl
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2. Genetically engineering wild species: protection or destruction of nature?

Invitation to an interactive online roundtable

Date and time:
8 December 2020, 10am-12pm CET (Brussels time)

Register here.

The European Parliament will soon develop its own initiative report on the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.

With this report, the Parliament will give its advice on how to halt the ongoing dramatic extinction of species and reverse the degradation of our ecosystems.

Some scientists and conservationists view the genetic engineering of wild species as an innovative solution to halt biodiversity loss. They are promoting the use of so-called Gene Drive technology to remove invasive alien species from islands, for example. Others warn however that this technology could instead harm ecosystems and further accelerate biodiversity loss.

Join us to discuss if we should or shouldn't rely on these innovative technologies to address the current biodiversity crisis.

Confirmed speakers:

Dr. Kevin Esvelt
Gene drive developer, MIT (USA)

Birgit Winkel
German Federal Ministry of the Environment, German EU Council Presidency

Kent Redford
Chair of the IUCN Task Force on Synthetic Biology

Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher
European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER)

Dr. Margret Engelhard
German Federal Nature Protection Agency

Dr. Christopher J. Preston
Professor for environmental philosophy at Montana University

Hosted by:

César Luena Lopez (S&D)
Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA)
Soraya Rodriguez Ramos
(Renew Europe)
Alexander Bernhuber (EPP)
Nikolaj Villumsen (GUE/NGL)