Agriculture
Genetic engineering plans of the EU Commission: easing on the way
Genetically modified food could end up on the plates more often in the EU in the future. photo
© Sebastian Willnow/ZB/dpa
Is genetic engineering unnecessary or a component of modern agriculture? New methods allow precise breeding, which could also occur naturally. Some are critical of the planned deregulation.
In the future, many genetically modified foods and feeds should be easier to research and sell in the EU without special labelling. In Brussels, the EU Commission proposed appropriate breeding of the strict To exempt from genetic engineering rules if the new plants could also have been created using conventional breeding methods.
However, the same safety requirements continue to apply to them as to breeds that have arisen, for example, through crossing and selection. In case of doubt, a plant modified by the gene scissors Crispr/Cas cannot be distinguished from a natural breed. Both small and large interventions are possible with gene scissors. The strict EU genetic engineering rules will continue to apply to more extensive interventions in plants, for example when genes from a different species are introduced into a plant, for example genes from a bacterium in corn.
Through the safe use of the new genetic engineering methods, farmers have access to more resilient plants that require fewer pesticides, said EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans. In addition, supporters of looser rules hope for faster results when breeding plants that have more nutrients or can cope better with drought. Numerous researchers and leading scientific organizations are pushing for deregulation and see no increased risk for people and the environment.
Association: “Attack on the organic economy”
The Association of Food without Genetic Engineering is meanwhile concerned about its business model: “This is an attack on the “without genetic engineering” and the organic economy, which together account for over 30 billion euros in sales in Germany alone,” said Bernhard Stoll, member of the board of the association.
Critics also fear that large corporations could gain even more influence on our food, for example through patents. Matin Qaim from the University of Bonn counters this: “The dominance of a few large corporations in the field of genetic engineering is mainly due to the fact that the approval procedures are extremely lengthy and expensive.” According to the professor of agricultural economics, small companies and public institutions could play their part again with deregulation.
Other points of criticism are that in future it will be more difficult for consumers to make a conscious decision against genetic engineering in food and that organic farming could suffer. However, the new genetic engineering methods should not be allowed to be used in organic food. In order to ensure coexistence, the EU countries should adopt measures, according to the Commission, such as a certain distance between fields.
Before the proposals can become reality, the EU states and the European Parliament still have to negotiate a compromise. So far, different tones have been heard from the traffic light parties. Politicians from the Greens and SPD are critical of the easing, while representatives of the FDP tend to emphasize the expected advantages of the looser rules.