Niveau juridique : Union européenne
Texte de la question en date du 31-10-2018
« On 25 July 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) handed down a judgment(1) stating that only organisms obtained by means of techniques or methods of mutagenesis which have conventionally been used are excluded from the scope of EU rules on GMOs. The judgment has caused concern among those in the European seed industry, who think that it could hamper their ability to innovate in selecting seeds and plants, especially because the vast majority of European SMEs cannot afford the regulatory costs of placing on the market an innovation that uses targeted genetic mutation techniques.
1. How is the Commission intending to bring the existing body of EC law into line with the ECJ’s judgment?
2. Has the Commission drawn up any guidelines for the European seed and plant industry on the future of the EU’s legislative framework for GMOs? Or is it intending to do so?
3.What impact does the Commission think that this judgment could have on innovation and development investment in the seed and plant industry?
(1) curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=FBD016BC289B417AA39BCEDF5A7A81D8?text=&docid=204387&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=3658257. »
Réponse donnée par Mr Andriukaitis au nom de la Commission
« 1. The judgement by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has not extended the scope of the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) legislation but has clarified how it should be read. The clarification provided by CJEU is binding and does not require amending GMO legislation1.
2. The Commission considers there is no need to issue any guidelines on the implementation of the Court judgement. However, the Commission has requested the European Reference Laboratory for Genetically Modified Food and Feed and the European Network of GMO laboratories to elaborate a report on the current and future possibilities and limitations regarding the detection of food or feed obtained by new mutagenesis techniques. The report should be finalised by March 2019.
3. The Commission has not assessed the impacts of the judgement on innovation and development investment in the seed and plant industry. »
Lien : www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2018-005559_EN.html