Brussels, Belgium
March 11, 2014

EP concludes first reading but fails to agree concrete amendments to Commission’s proposal

Following a debate in plenary on Monday, the European Parliament today formally concluded its first reading of the Commission’s proposal for a modernisation of the EU’s seed law without putting forward any concrete amendments.

While the plenary did adopt a proposal from the AGRI Committee to reject the Commission’s text, this option legally does not exist and thus the Commission’s original proposals stands unchanged.

“The EP has given away an important opportunity to shape a new and modern seed law for breeders, seed producers and farmers in Europe.” Garlich von Essen, Secretary General of ESA commented on the EP’s vote. “For the first time the EP had true co-decision power in this policy area. It is a pity that it has failed to use it constructively, not least in view of all the work that has been done by many MEPs since May last year and the many concrete proposals they developed.”

During the plenary debate, MEPs had criticised that the Commission aimed at restricting exchanges of seed between private gardeners and at reducing agro-biodiversity were repeatedly put forward by MEPs as reasons for their rejection. Von Essen is critical of this justification. “Nothing like that can be found in the existing seed legislation nor in the new proposal. This argument is used as a scapegoat. It is not a valid reason. There has been a massive campaign of misinformation and allegations discrediting the Commission’s proposal as well as the entire European seed sector. No doubt, this has played a role in this decision”.

MEPs also criticised that the Commission came too late in this term with such a complex and technical proposal and contained too many proposals for secondary legislation on which MEPs want to see further clarification before making decisions.

“It is obvious that the rejection is also strongly motivated by the fact that the EP’s term is coming to an end next month and that MEPs felt that more time is needed for discussion than what was still available.” von Essen is convinced. “But to achieve that, the EP could have simply continued discussion in Committee. Now it has left the decision on the next steps entirely to Council and Commission instead of influencing these steps itself.“

According to the statement of Commissioner Borg last night, the Commission does not intend to withdraw its proposal which it sees as an integral part of its broader ‘Smarter Rules for Safer Food’ package.

Council therefore will now have to continue its work on the text - without any concrete indications of the ideas and position of the European Parliament.
 

Website: http://www.euroseeds.org

Published: March 11, 2014