On Tuesday 25 July in Brussels, the EU agriculture ministers gave a generally favourable reception to the proposals on plant reproductive material (seeds) and forest reproductive material.
This was the first opportunity for the Agriculture Council to react to the European Commission’s recent proposals (see EUROPE 13216/2).
Several Member States, such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece, welcomed the fact that the text on plant reproductive material retained the two central pillars, i.e. variety registration and batch certification.
With regard to forest reproductive material, several ministers felt that the possibility given to Member States to take action in this area should be retained. A majority of ministers stressed the need to avoid excessive bureaucratic and financial burdens.
France pointed out that the proposal set ambitious targets for certain sectors, with compulsory assessments of the agronomic value and sustainability of varieties. The French delegation called for a “gradual approach” to the implementation of these provisions.
Lithuania also recommended a transition period for funding biomolecular techniques. Bulgaria highlighted “a number of factors that give us cause for concern”, including SMEs’ spending on laboratory tests for new varieties.
Several countries, including Hungary and Cyprus, called for the protection of genetic diversity to be guaranteed.
Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for Health, said at the end of the debate that the proposals were aimed at “ensuring access to high-quality material that will help us to better tackle climate change”. She welcomed the “positive” reactions of EU agriculture ministers.
Luis Planas, current President of the Agriculture Council, indicated that examination of the text at technical level should begin soon, and hoped that progress would be made in the Council on this matter by the end of 2023. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)