The European Commission has initiated an impact assessment on new developments in genetic engineering. This impact assessment is intended to evaluate legislative proposals to regulate certain new genomic techniques (NGTs) in plants. In this paper, the German Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) outlines its position and explains why the current GMO regulation in the EU is suitable and also necessary for NGTs to protect humans, animals and the environment from potential dangers as well as to support possible sustainability goals established in the framework of European strategies.