Time is running out: Will Slovenia join lawsuit against GMO deregulation?

Slovenian organisations say the deadline to challenge new European rules on genetically modified plants is approaching, and they are pressing the government to act.

A coalition representing producers, consumers and wider civil society has called on the Agriculture Ministry to join an action for annulment against the legislation at the Court of Justice of the European Union. The groups argue that deregulating plants produced with some new genomic techniques would increase corporate power at the expense of farmers’ and consumers’ rights.

They also warn that the rules would weaken Slovenia’s food sovereignty. The lawsuit is supported in Slovenia by the biodynamic association, the association of organic farmers, the beekeepers’ association, Ekoci, Demeter, the Ekosemena-Semenjalnica institute, Amarant, the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Consumers’ Association.

The ministry’s response suggests that it does not intend to join the action. The European Parliament adopted the regulation on June 17, and it appeared in the European Union’s Official Journal on June 26. It entered into force 20 days later.