An intense public debate has emerged in Europe concerning the introduction of genetically modified (GM) plants and food crops. While cultivation of GM crops has become very popular in the US, Canada and Argentina since 1996 (Fig. 1), in Europe commercial cultivation of transgenic crops is very limited till now. This is primarily due to cautious regulatory approaches taken by several Member States of the EU, motivated among others by concerns expressed by environmental and consumer groups regarding potential long-term negative effects on environment and human health. The purpose of this contribution is to identify and evaluate the relevant environmental and food safety issues associated with the cultivation of transgenic plants. This is a prerequisite for the acceptance of this relatively new technology, but other issues must also be dealt with such as traceability, guarantees for GM-free production, labelling, benefits for a sustainable agriculture, and transparency of authorisation procedures before this new technology can play an important role in agriculture.