DFG welcomes EU agreement on new plant breeding techniques

Leibniz-HKI Director Axel Brakhage: Reassessment follows long-standing scientific position of the DFG Senate Commission

12/08/2025 | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

A small sprout of a green plant thrives in a glass container in a sunny laboratory. Above the plant, you can see a metallic part of a microscope. The background is blurred, and many other green plants can be seen. — © Adobe Stock / shaiith

The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) welcomes the provisional agreement announced by the European Union on a new legal framework for plants produced using new genomic techniques (NGT). The agreement provides for simplified rules for so-called NGT-1 plants, which could also have been produced using conventional breeding methods. These plants are exempt from the strict approval and labeling requirements that continue to apply to other plants produced using new breeding techniques (NGT-2).

“This reassessment of plants produced using new breeding techniques will give science in Germany a boost,” says DFG President Professor Dr. Katja Becker. “The political breakthrough achieved in the negotiations strengthens Europe as a research location and opens up new avenues for climate-resilient and resource-efficient agriculture. It is now important that the new regulations are also swiftly confirmed by the EU Parliament and the EU Council and implemented in all member states,” said Becker.

“The DFG has been committed to scientifically sound and risk-oriented regulation of new breeding techniques for many years,” adds Professor Axel Brakhage, Chair of the DFG Senate Committee on Fundamental Questions of Genetic Research. “Together with the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, we have pointed out in various statements that, from a scientific point of view, genome-edited plants whose genetic modifications could also occur naturally or through conventional breeding techniques do not pose any particular risks and should therefore be treated in the same way as conventional varieties.”

The planned classification of NGT-1 plants follows this scientific finding and implements a central principle: it is the properties of the product that are decisive, not the breeding method. The DFG expressly welcomes the fact that this overcomes strictly procedure-related regulation, which has significantly restricted research and innovation to date. The new legal framework provides researchers and breeders in Germany and Europe with reliable prospects. It facilitates field experiments, strengthens competitiveness, and creates the conditions for the development of more robust, sustainably produced crops that can contribute to the goals of the European Green Deal and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy.

For the reform to become valid, the agreement must still be confirmed by a majority in the EU Parliament and the EU Council. The DFG calls on the EU institutions to approve the compromise that has now been reached in order to ensure the rapid implementation of the new legal framework: “Modern breeding methods offer great potential for food security, sustainability, and adaptation to climate change—potential that can be responsibly exploited through modern regulation,” affirms DFG President Becker.