The European Union reaches an agreement on new genomic techniques (NGT) in plant editing
16 12 2025
Bucharest, December 15th,2025
UEAA COMMUNIQUE
With great satisfaction, the Union of European Academies for Science Applied to Agriculture, Food and Nature (UEAA) welcomes the provisional agreement reached between the European Parliament and Member States on December 3rd, 2025 on a set of rules that establishes a legal framework for plants derived from new genomic techniques (NGTs).
UEAA has been actively involved on this issue for a number of years (www.ueaa.info), strongly supporting the rationale use of this technology as a most powerful tool to develop the future of the European Agriculture in order to meet its big challenges such as to cope with the climatic changes. A key date was that of the UEAA Recommendations to the Commission for an EU regulation frame concerning Genome Editing Research and Development for both Crop Plants and Farm Animals (https://ueaa.info/2022/01/03/the-ueaa-recommendations-for-an-eu-regulation-frame-concerning-genome-editing-research-and-development-for-crop-plants-and-farm-animals/ )
A follow up was established with the Commission through the UEAA meeting with the Innovation/ Biotechnology bureau of the EU Commission Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG Santé) (01 03 2022) and later through the UEAA participation to the E U Commission Public consultation “on plants produced by certain new genomic techniques”.
This agreement represents a major political shift, as it aligns regulation more closely with scientific evidence and acknowledges the role of innovation in addressing the major challenges facing European agriculture, including climate change and sustainability.
The agreement clearly distinguishes between NGT1 and NGT2 plants. NGT1 varieties comparable to conventionally bred plants will benefit from simplified rules, while NGT2 plants will be subject to a differentiated but lighter assessment than the current GMO framework. At the same time, transparency measures and provisions on access to seeds aim to protect farmers and maintain public confidence. Modifications involving negative traits will continue to fall under existing GMO legislation, reflecting a balanced and precautionary approach.
UEAA considers this agreement a positive conclusion to a long and complex legislative process, marking renewed confidence in European research and plant breeding capacity. The possibility to periodically review the regulation in light of scientific progress and real-world impacts will be essential to ensure that the framework remains fit for purpose and supports the development of next-generation crop varieties.
This agreement must now be approved one last time by the Member States and the European Parliament to enter into force. This compromise was strongly supported by Denmark, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union until the end of December.