EU's gene technology laws are changing, but researchers want more

The European Union is undertaking a significant reform of its laws concerning genetically modified organisms (GMOs), a move that researchers describe as a "welcome trend." The European Commission is shifting its approach, moving away from automatically triggering extensive control requirements based solely on the technology used. Instead, regulations will increasingly adapt to the final product's characteristics, its documented risk profile, and the potential for intervention if new risks emerge.

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Finally – now the EU is changing its tune on gene technology.

This regulatory adjustment implicitly acknowledges that previous GMO legislation was disproportionate. Researchers argue that the precautionary principle, in practice, became a "delaying principle." They criticize green parties and environmental movements for allowing their principled opposition to biotechnology to obstruct science-based risk assessments for too long.

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We are now seeing a very welcome trend that the EU Commission is trying to change the view of what precaution means.

However, the reforms are seen as merely "cautious adjustments" within the EU framework. The researchers advocate for a more decisive shift, urging the European Commission to openly recognize the failures of past legislation and completely discard the precautionary principle. They propose replacing it with a more forward-looking "innovation principle."

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Instead of letting the use of a certain technology automatically trigger an extensive control requirement, the regulation is increasingly adapted to the final product's characteristics, their potential documented risk profile, and the possibility of intervention if new risks emerge.

Under the old legislation, using certain biotechnological techniques, such as inserting new DNA into plants, automatically triggered a cascade of risk management measures. These included extensive animal testing and requirements for segregation and labeling, despite a lack of scientific evidence suggesting the technology itself posed increased risks to human or animal health or the environment. The researchers point out that the EU Commission itself noted this 16 years ago but failed to change the law until now.

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It is an indirect acknowledgment that the previous GMO legislation has not been proportionate, as the precautionary principle there has been elevated to a delaying principle.