News

Legal opinion: Planned deregulation of genetic engineering would be unlawful

05/11/2026 - According to a new legal opinion, the planned deregulation of new genetic engineering (NGT) – which has since been confirmed in the trilogue between Member States and the European Parliament – would be unlawful.

This is the conclusion reached by attorneys-at-law Dr Georg Buchholz and Tessa Krabbe from the Berlin law firm GGSC, who examined the issue on behalf of the German Association for Organic Food (BÖLW).

According to the legal opinion, the waiver of any risk assessment for genetically modified plants in the "NGT 1" category, as provided for in the new regulation, contravenes applicable law in two respects: On the one hand, it violates the precautionary principle enshrined in the EU Treaties and, on the other, it also undermines the requirements of the Cartagena Protocol to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Under these provisions, a risk assessment is always mandatory prior to the release of any genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Furthermore, all types of NGT continue to be classified as GMOs, even after the planned deregulation.

Furthermore, the legal experts criticise the fact that NGT products would be difficult to identify as such in the future, as following the deregulation of so-called "NGT 1", labelling would only be mandatory up to the seed stage. Food produced from such seeds, however, would not have to be labelled – "regardless of whether it is baby food, biscuits or frozen food", according to the experts.

If the European Parliament approves the “unlawful” new regulation in June, a Member State could have the validity of the regulation reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the authors state. This is to be hoped for in the interests of protecting people, animals, and the environment.

Dr Georg Buchholz, co-author of the legal opinion, will discuss further legal aspects of the planned deregulation of genetic engineering in his presentation at the Non-GMO Summit on 13 May 2026.

Tagesspiegel Background: Waiving risk assessments for new genetic engineering is unlawful (German)

BÖLW press release: Legal opinion: New Genetic Engineering Regulation unlawful (German)