The Danish Presidency of the European Council is coming to an end and there is a strong political will to conclude the process, reaching a version to be presented at the trilogue meeting between the Commission, Parliament and the Council of the EU.
The technical discussions in the working group, which includes representatives of the various ministries of the member states, seem to have ended with the last meeting on 6 and 7 November. The matter is now in the hands of the permanent representations and the process is back to the soonest political, rather than a technical approach.
However, there is a possibility that a qualified majority is not reached: in this case the process could return to the technical bodies. Numerous issues remain unresolved and if not resolved within the Council, they risk making the trilogue difficult and lengthy process, as is currently happening with the dossier on new GMOs/NGTs, which was quickly transferred to the trilateral meeting and then stalled.
The key issues for the Rural Seed Network, where some confusion still reigns, concern the position of seed networks, which remain stuck between their exclusion from the scope of the legislation (Article 2.4) and their regulation through derogations (Article 29), as well as to the entire architecture determining the trade in conservation varieties. According to the Council's proposal, the latter will be regulated by a series of paragraphs, scattered across multiple different members, which will make it difficult compliance by operators and the ability of authorities to monitor them. The possibility of variety registration, obtained as a result of selection on the farm/with the participation of the authorities, as storage varieties also will be removed or will be limited to vegetable and fruit species (excluding cereals).
The prospects for seed exchange between farmers improve. Article 30, which at one point seemed destined to disappear completely, has been reinstated, but the conditions (and possible restrictions) for free trade are still not clearly defined. In any case, there seems to be a disarming ignorance about the workings of seed networks and the processes of participation, research and innovation, which many of these organizations, mainly in Western Europe, have been pursuing for years. Unfortunately, the creation of such network in Bulgaria – PoleRani – is in its infancy. Among politicians and scientists, the image of purely idealistic and activist organizations prevails, and awareness of their growing contribution to seed innovation, especially in the organic sector and sustainable agricultural and food systems, is lacking. PoleRani Association and AGROLINK Association strive to maintain a lively dialogue with the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture to raise awareness of the need for national seed conservation networks with the participation of farmers and gardeners.