Before a genetically modified plant (GMP) can be placed on the market in the European Union (EU), an environmental risk assessment has to be conducted according to EU-Directive 2001/18/EC or the Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council. However, no harmonized concept for the ecotoxicological testing is available today that considers the characteristics of GMPs as a whole. In fact, to date mainly ecotoxicological tests originally developed and standardized for pesticides are used for this purpose. Frequently in these tests, not the whole GMP is tested but only specific transgene products (mainly toxins). In this contribution, ecotoxicological methods developed for the testing of pesticides are evaluated whether they are suitable for the risk assessment of GMPs as well. In total, 105 test methods covering a wide range of terrestrial invertebrates, microbes and plants (laboratory, semi-field and field level) were assessed. Only seven of them had already been used with GMPs, while in about 20 studies the existing tests methods were modified; mostly in a way that non-standard species were used. In the laboratory, few earthworm and non-target arthropod (NTA) species as well as collembolans and isopods were most often tested, and in the field, only the litter-bag test was used. Clearly, more species than those few standard organisms currently used have to be selected for testing purposes. A more detailed analysis of GMP-tests with soil invertebrates published in the literature revealed that some of the relevant GMP exposure routes like via bulk soil, soil pore water and litter from GMPs are well covered. However, studies addressing either the consumption of GMPs themselves or secondary exposure after taking-up invertebrates that fed on living or dead GMPs are underrepresented.