The Greens, a partner in Germany’s three-party coalition, must tear down internal walls to overcome the tug-of-war over genetic engineering that currently exists within the coalition, Carina Konrad, a member of parliament for the liberal coalition partner FDP, said ahead of an EU-level vote on the issue that could see Germany abstain.

The European Commission recently put forward a controversial proposal to deregulate new genomic techniques (NGTs) but parties in the German government have different views on deregulating gene-edited products, with the Greens being very vocal in its opposition.

If the German government fails to find an internal common position, it will likely abstain from voting at the EU level. Bickering between coalition partners has already led to voting abstentions by Germany in the past.

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“We have been left behind in [plant] breeding for more than 20 or 25 years because Europe has closed its doors to the developments that have taken place worldwide in genetic engineering itself,” she stressed, adding that “we are threatened with the same fate [in terms of NGT] if we do not come to sensible decisions quickly.”

Therefore, the liberalisation of genetic engineering could prove to be the next friction point for the German government, which has often been embroiled in power struggles due to opposing views on many issues.

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