During the official visit by Roberta Metsola, EP President, to Denmark (Copenhagen) on 26 April 2023 Metsola and Mette Frederiksen, Danish Prime Minister, exchanged views on European Affairs at a public event in The Royal Danish Library (Den Sorte Diamant).
Answering a question from the audience Roberta Metsola stated, that she was fully prepared to consider changes in the present restrictive rules regarding modern breeding techniques, if the rules harnessed the ability of EU to compete with the surrounding world. Prime Minister Frederiksen stated that she agreed with Metsola.
Fortcoming EU NGT-regulation
The EU legislation on GMOs is based on the precautionary principle (PP), which obliges decision makers to undertake preventive measures in situations, where the knowledge about the undesired outcomes of a planned action (e.g., introduction of a new product to the market) is insufficient.
A reform of the EU regulatory system requires a change in the procedures for the authorization of NGT products (New Genomic Techniques or NGTs is a variety of techniques that can alter the genetic material of an organism and that have emerged or have been developed since 2001, when the existing GMO legislation was adopted).
The argument for changing the regulatory framework for NGT products is that otherwise EU researchers, investors and indeed EU agriculture may still be at a competitive disadvantage (as compared to Argentina, Brazil, Canada, USA, or the United Kingdom) due to the inefficiency of the current system and the committee procedure for authorization.
The European Commission has mentioned that the current legislation may not be adequate to regulate research and marketing involving some NGT products and indicated a need to alter it. The new legislation should contribute to the achievement of the goals of EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies, which would require a more widespread use of such products, a higher throughput in authorization, and a higher level of legal certainty as to the outcomes of an authorization process.
European Commission (EC) plans to have a project ready in the second quarter of 2023.
Soren Skafte, Former Permanent Secretary 