Parliamentary question - E-001880/2021(ASW)Parliamentary question
E-001880/2021(ASW)
European Parliament

Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

18.6.2021

Written question

The placing on the market and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are subject to EU legislation, embodied in Directives 2001/18/EC[1] and 2009/41/EC[2] and Regulations (EU) No 1829/2003[3] and 1830/2003[4]. As pointed out by the Honourable Member, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled, in its judgment of 25 July 2018 (Case C-528/16[5]), that organisms obtained by new techniques or methods of mutagenesis, which have appeared since Directive 2001/18/EC was adopted, are not excluded from the scope of that directive. Consequently, since organisms obtained by new mutagenesis techniques are not exempted from Directive 2001/18/EC, they are subject to the obligations arising from that directive and Member States are not free to legislate on them other than to transpose the directive into national law. The same conclusions would apply, based on the reasoning of the Court, to other new genomic techniques used in plant breeding.

In view of this, Member States, including France, do not have the possibility to develop their own legislation on the placing on the market and use of GMOs obtained by new genomic techniques and methods.

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its study[6] on new genomic techniques (NGTs), published on 29 April 2021 following a Council request. The study clarifies the legal status of products obtained from NGTs under the current GMO legislation. Based on the study conclusions, the Commission has announced it will initiate a policy initiative on plants derived from certain new techniques .

Last updated: 23 June 2021
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