This time next month, the European Parliament will have the power to open Europe’s farmgates and plates to new genetic technologies, without the guardrails of labelling, monitoring, or liability. But in Brussels, an eleventh-hour battle is brewing. So is this game, set and match? Or is there still something to play for? Natasha Foote brings you the latest from Brussels.
If there’s one thing 2026 has made clear, it is that the game of politics is governed by a new playbook: 1. anything can happen, and 2. it’s all to play for until the final whistle.
It’s with this in mind that policymakers, lobbyists and campaigners alike are bracing for a final, high-stakes showdown over opening Europe’s doors to new genetic technologies in May.
For decades, since the early 1990s, the EU has maintained some of the world’s most stringent rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), shaping a system that emphasises precaution, traceability and consumer choice.
Now, that long-standing framework is being tested by a new political and scientific framing: so-called new genomic techniques (NGTs, or new GMOs), a category of gene-editing methods proponents argue are more targeted and should therefore side-step the current legal framework, allowing approvals without labelling and monitoring.
As of Tuesday (21 April), the EU countries have officially given their blessing to the plan. This leaves the ball in the European Parliament’s court for a final vote around the 18-19 May plenary session.
So could this be the final nail in the coffin for a GM-free Europe? Well, it’s not quite a done deal just yet.
Improbable, but not impossible
The gameplan is to garner enough support for an amendment at the eleventh hour.
Any amendment approved in May would send the text back to the negotiation table for a set period of time – no more than 4 months – in which either a new compromise agreement can be carved out, or it is game over for the file.
It would be an unprecedented move, with an amendment never successfully passing at this late stage before – but not impossible, according to insiders in the Parliament.
It would require an absolute majority – aka, the backing of 361 MEPs.
Most consider that an amendment restricting the possibility of patents, bringing the text closer to the Parliament’s original position, is by far the likeliest to garner the required cross-party support.
For prominent French Socialist MEP Christophe Clergeau, the chances of an amendment passing on patents is “credible”, pointing to the fact that a ban on patents garnered high political support on the first Parliamentary vote on its position (see here for details, and below). For their part, the Greens, too, are cautiously optimistic that one of the amendments they are throwing into the ring will stick.
Meanwhile, even the party in charge of the file itself, the centre-right EPP, has raised its own concerns. In a letter sent to the Commission, seen by ARC, a number of centre-right MEPs requested a “clear political signal” from the Commission’s side over the “continued uncertainty around patents”.
The signatories of the letter, which includes prominent agriculture MEPs such as ex-agriculture committee chair Norbert Lins, highlights concerns include “access to genetic resources, freedom to operate and possible market concentration in the seed sector”.
However, this does not mean this will translate into a vote for an amendment, as the party is well aware of the political delicacy of sending this back to the discussion table.
Asked whether this means the signatories will vote in favour of an amendment, Norbert Lins’ office did not rule out the possibility, saying they had not yet received a response from the Commission, whose “content will determine any further steps”.
A patent controversy
The crux of the issue is that there are plenty of lawmakers in the Parliament who are unhappy with the deal agreed back in December, which crosses a number of their red lines.
The stickiest of these is patents, which are artificial monopolies granted by public authorities for a limited period of time. The idea, at least on paper, is to encourage research and development by giving patent holders greater opportunity to recoup their investment.
But others warn this will further concentrate power into the hands of the few seed oligopolies – among them, MEP Clergeau. For him, the risk is clear: “authorising these patents means strengthening the control of a few large companies, often non-European, over the detriment of small seed companies and farmers,” he told journalists.
Likewise, campaign group No Patents On Seeds! argues that this risks market concentration and potential infringements on small farmers. The group recently commissioned a study of five EU member states which found 80% of EU citizens reject the idea of granting patents on living organisms, e.g. patents on plants or animals.
Meanwhile, concerns are coming from all political corners of the Parliament as well as across member states, with NGOs, small farmers and regenerative farmers groups, and environmental groups networks alike piling on the pressure.
As such, campaigners such as European Coordination Via Campesina are calling on citizens to write directly to their MEPs. Another campaign, ‘Blacked-Out Ingredients’, calls for mandatory labelling and stronger oversight of new genomic techniques.
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ARC2020’s Seeds4All project met with French activist Camille Etienne’s team at the conference on seeds in the European Parliament on March 4th. On this occasion, we had the pleasure to exchange about the real and urgent risks of deregulation of GMOs and patents on seeds. Following that meeting, we were pleased to support and see the campaign on this crucial issue gaining such momentum in France. Check the video for an excellent intro to the issue of GMOs.
Game, set and match?
So is it game, set and match? Not quite.
The odds may favour the status quo, but the final whistle hasn’t blown — and in Brussels, last-minute turnarounds are increasingly somewhat à la mode.
One thing is certain: whatever happens in May, the decision will echo far beyond the hemicycle, shaping the rules of the game for Europe’s farmers, food systems, and citizens for years to come.
The Seeds4All project has been following developments in the seed marketing legislation and NGT files for the past two years. Visit the Seed Policy page to catch up on the negotiations – it’s a useful tool to track the process all the way back to 2023.
To understand the bigger picture of the future of seeds, listen to the podcast mini-series What Seeds For Tomorrow? produced by Seeds4All and Seed Carriers.
Have thoughts to share on this topic? Join the conversation on LinkedIn and Bluesky!
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