By Policy Analyst Natasha Foote

After years of intense lobbying and back and forth between EU negotiators, a deal has finally been struck on plans to loosen the regulation of a broad new class of genetically modified plants — known as “new genomic techniques” (NGTs).

The compromise, which was struck in early December, means we’re one step closer to new GMOs on Europe’s plates – certainly not the Christmas present that campaigners had on their wishlist this year, but a real treat for big industry players.

‘Conventional like’: The agreement backs the creation of new genetically modified (GM) plants, termed NGT Category 1 (NGT1), which are portrayed as “not real GMOs” on the (contested) grounds that the envisaged genetic changes could also occur naturally without genetic engineering. This means they will be released into the market without the strict oversight traditionally required for GMOs.

Patent Pushover: Meanwhile, despite a long battle on the ban of patents on these new NGT seeds, the Parliament gave in to a compromise to permit patents on these new NGT seeds. As Save Our Seeds’ Franziska Achterberg points out in a recent piece for ARC2020, main beneficiaries are companies that develop and market patented GM plants, who would gain faster market access with minimal regulatory scrutiny, while retaining exclusive patent rights. For more on the impact of this decision, check out Seeds4All’s latest deep dive analysis.

Consumer Concerns: Food labelling for these products would effectively disappear, making it impossible for consumers to know whether a product contains new GMO-derived ingredients. The impact is two-foldl; without adequate labelling and traceability, consumers and producers lose the ability to opt out of GMO value chains, while companies could avoid liability even if unforeseen harms emerge.

ARC contacted the centre-right’s Jessica Polfjard, who is leading work on the file, but she chose not to comment while negotiations are ongoing.

Farmers Impact: For small and medium-sized breeding companies, organic farmers and regions committed to GMO-free agriculture, the consequences of deregulation are potentially existential. It remains entirely unclear how they are supposed to ensure GMO-free breeding and agricultural production under a system that removes traceability and detection methods while expanding patent protection.

The deal is not yet final. It still needs formal approval by national governments and the European Parliament in its next term before it would be translated into binding laws. That means there is still a (slim) window of opportunity for EU Member States and members of the European Parliament to reject this deregulation in the upcoming votes and to uphold strong safety rules, mandatory GMO labelling and full corporate responsibility.

Meanwhile, there are continued calls from civil society and parts of the food sector for stronger consumer protections: mandatory detection methods, binding coexistence rules to protect non-GMO and organic farming, and genuinely enforceable limits on patent scope.

While the EU is embroiled in a heated discussion about how patents and NGTs may deepen food growers’ dependency on corporate seed suppliers, a parallel debate is gaining momentum internationally.

For years now, farmer-led and civil society groups have been calling for a re-examination of UPOV, the international legal framework that gives corporations monopoly rights over seeds. Unlike patents—which cover technical inventions and can block access to traits or breeding tools—UPOV grants Plant Variety Protection (PVP), over specific plant varieties, limiting how farmers and breeders may use them and often narrowing possibilities for seed saving and further breeding.

On December 2, 2025, a joint initiative was launched to Stop UPOV, urging governments to reconsider adherence to a system many argue undermines seed sovereignty and biodiversity worldwide. More information and ways to get involved are available at https://stopupov.org.

Another Christmas gift comes in the form of a freshly sealed compromise deal on the EU’s new seed law. EU agriculture ministers have agreed a common position on the proposed new law – but critics warn it risks sidelining farmers, small seed producers and diversity breeders, while consolidating power in the hands of the global seed industry.

The compromise position from the Council is the final piece of the 3-part puzzle needed to kickstart negotiations into the final phase of talks, due to start of 2026.

According to ARCHE NOAH, the Council’s position would also impose heavy new bureaucratic requirements on small seed companies and farms, treating them much like multinational corporations. New rules on record-keeping, reporting and traceability could prove especially damaging for small operators, despite their outsized role in conserving and marketing old, open-pollinated varieties. “If these small businesses are pushed out of the market owing to new administrative burdens, our markets would lose much of their crop diversity – an outcome that harms us all” Magdalena Prieler said.

Farmers’ traditional practices are also under pressure. The Council position would limit seed exchange to within narrow regional boundaries, even in small quantities, while banning the exchange of other propagating material such as fruit-tree scions. ARCHE NOAH argues this undermines farmers’ internationally recognised seed rights and hampers their ability to adapt to climate stress.

There were some gains. After sustained advocacy, exemptions were secured for old fruit varieties, and several impractical requirements for small farms were dropped. But ARCHE NOAH warns that, as things stand, these improvements do not outweigh the remaining risks.

What’s next: The approval of the position means that inter-institutional meetings (known as ‘trilogues’) between the European Parliament, Council and Commission will begin in the new year, in efforts to find a final compromise position between the three sides.

ARCHE NOAH and allied seed initiatives are calling for clear exemptions for agrobiodiversity conservation, guaranteed farmer seed exchange, and proportionate rules for small farms.