Fields of discretion: GMO cultivation and Member State autonomy in the Fidenato litigation

In Fidenato (Joined Cases C-364/24 and C-393/24), the Court of Justice upheld the opt-out mechanism allowing Member States to ban the cultivation of authorised GMOs. The judgment is significant for the questions it raises: how far uniform, science-based risk assessment can coexist with national choices grounded in agricultural, socioeconomic and territorial considerations; whether the internal market can accommodate territorial differentiation in production; and what role the consent of the authorisation holder plays in legitimising such restrictions. This note examines how the Court answers these questions and reflects on their wider implications. These extend beyond GMOs to the emerging regulation of new genomic techniques, where coexistence between different production models is set to become even more contested.