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ENVI committee MEPs will vote next Wednesday (24 January) on the proposal for new rules for innovative types of gene-edited plants<\/a>, which currently fall under the more restrictive genetically modified organisms (GMO) framework, to get the law approved in plenary before the end of this legislative mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A political meeting scheduled for today was replaced by a technical meeting, sources from the European Parliament told Euractiv, as European People\u2019s Party (EPP), Renew, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and Identity and Democracy (ID) MEPs are those most aligned to vote in favour of the draft report by EPP\u2019s Jessica Polfj\u00e4rd, the rapporteur on the dossier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those groups agree that the requirements of the GMO directive \u2013 which dates back to 1999 \u2013 are not suited for new techniques that could potentially lead to more targeted and precise modifications of plant genomes and improve the environmental performance of agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, French socialist MEP Christophe Cleargeau, shadow rapporteur on the file, urged Polfj\u00e4rd to \u201cre-start\u201d discussions on the proposal after the French health authority (ANSES) published a report <\/a>in December saying that some of the EU executive\u2019s criteria for classifying NGTs lacked a scientific basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clergeau, who participated in the demonstration against NGTs last week, accused the rapporteur of dismissing ANSES\u2019s conclusions and said she was \u201cnot respond[ing]\u201d to calls from scientists and civil society to reconsider her draft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After a meeting on Tuesday, sources from the Social and Democrats (S&D) said that the group \u201cneed[s] further internal discussion\u201d before finding a line for the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the demonstration, also Green MEPs sounded the alarm about the risks of NGTs, claiming they could have unintended consequences for human health and ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Member states are still discussing at the expert level, with the patentability of NGT-based products being the biggest rift in the EU Council, according to sources close to the matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe issue of patents<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n