Bayer CEO Werner Baumann has called for more innovation-friendly EU rules to allow progress in biotechnology and not slow it down.
Europe must "move away from a primarily risk-avoiding approach and towards an approach that is based on the possibilities," said the CEO of the pharmaceutical and agrochemical group on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In North America this is done much better than in the EU.
Baumann emphasized that advances in biotechnology are very important, for example for feeding the world.
As an example, he cited a new variety of corn that grows lower, uses less water and yields 20 percent more.
"That's what we need because we can't increase farmland without endangering natural habitats - so it has to go through intensification." Bayer wants to market the corn in North America in 2023.
Due to its low stature, the plants do not snap over so easily in strong winds.