"EU governments have voted on the side of a handful of big corporations’ profits, instead of protecting farmers and consumers’ right to transparency and safety" – Friends of the Earth Europe

Today, EU Member States’ deputy ambassadors voted to widely deregulate the new generation of genetically modified organisms (new GMOs, so-called "new genomic techniques"), which means exempting them from any labelling, safety checks, monitoring and liability requirements.

Friends of the Earth Europe condemns this decision as it prioritises false corporate promises over public demand for strict regulation.[1] This shift undermines the EU’s fundamental precautionary principle underlying European policymaking and the EU’s approach to consumers’ right to choose.

Mute Schimpf, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe commented: “It’s a dark day for consumers, farmers and the environment. EU governments have voted on the side of a handful of big corporations’ profits, instead of protecting farmers and consumers’ right to transparency and safety. They have slashed regulatory oversight to zero and eliminated liability for untested new GMOs, gambling on empty promises for plants that don’t even exist yet.”

Bayer, among the four big agribusiness behind this deregulation push, spends 6 million euros lobbying per year to expand their control over the food sector. The corporation, which misjudged the impacts of merging with Monsanto in 2018, is now facing serious financial trouble. With ongoing lawsuits in the US over glyphosate’s links to cancer, exceeding $11 billion in costs,[2] patenting new GM seeds will provide Bayer new revenues from fees imposed on European farmers.

For a Q&A on the EU proposal to deregulate new GMOs, and the overview of the different EU institutions’ position on the file, as well as their impact on consumers, farmers and the environment, click here.

Notes

[1] According to a survey carried out by Kantar Public for Greenpeace France, an overwhelming majority (92%) of the population would like the presence of new GMOs to be indicated on food packaging. Similar opinions were expressed by German, Dutch and Austrian citizens: safety checks and labelling are rights, not privileges.
[2] https://www.ft.com/content/2732003c-7596-4df5-9fae-937fd86511fe
https://www.lawsuit-information-center.com/roundup-lawsuit.html
https://missouriindependent.com/2025/03/13/some-records-of-bayers-missouri-campaign-to-protect-roundup-to-be-unsealed/
Friends of the Earth Europe has recently published a series of briefings assessing the impacts of the deregulation plans for different segments of the society – from patents, labelling, risk assessments and liability. You can access them here.

Source: Friends of the Earth Europe