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Abstract
I will illustrate how the 'old' European Union (EU) legal regime on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is applied to regulate new plant breeding technologies (NPBT). I will discuss why and how this results in what elsewhere had been called 'legal disruption'. Legal disruption will occur once legal rules which were initially confined to a specific identified issue start to be applied beyond their original target. Such legal disruption may be found in the example of NPBT interacting with the precautionary principle, the use of scientific evidence in preliminary ruling proceedings, and the enforcement of labelling and traceability requirements. In the case of NPBT, legal disruption took place because policy makers were unwilling to adopt legislation designed to meet the demands of the technology. Consequently, they shuffled the responsibility for regulatory decision to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). The CJEU, in its current design, represents an ill-suited institution to decide on such complex technology questions. I will explain why. I will end with a plea for a regulation of NPBT, which likewise enables and protects, following the eight principles developed by Michéle Finck on the example of the governance of blockchain technology.