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Post by hortusbrambonii on Jan 31, 2014 16:30:02 GMT -5
I only have a source in Dutch now, but it seems that the new draconian European seed law has not been accepted and voted down. Sounds like good news if I understand the very little information well. PatrickW do you have more information? |
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Post by trixtrax on Jan 31, 2014 21:32:47 GMT -5
Aw, what a sign of relief. Things bode well now for us in the states as well.
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Post by steev on Jan 31, 2014 21:47:16 GMT -5
One hopes so, but the forces of monopolization/evil do not rest, there being money and power to be grasped.
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Post by billw on Jan 31, 2014 22:08:08 GMT -5
Does that mean that they're dropping the matter for a while, or that they will now start again?
Either way, sounds like a happy occasion!
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Post by steev on Feb 1, 2014 0:16:13 GMT -5
Billw: Really? You can even dream that these interests will rest? They have multitudes of minions whose paychecks depend on their not resting, passels of propagandists who know that the more they trumpet their self-serving crap, the more it will be accepted as actual fact, truth be damned, actual science be damned, Earth be damned!
I'm sorry if I sound a bit alarmist, but I've been around long enough that I've seen this movie before, and even when it comes to a "happy" ending, it is at a hugely wasted expense and a useless extension of harm.
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Post by billw on Feb 1, 2014 1:12:45 GMT -5
You'll note that I didn't include the option "dropped for good." I don't know how often they can raise changes to these regulations in the EU... on a fixed schedule or whenever their little authoritarian hearts desire?
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Post by PatrickW on Feb 2, 2014 15:30:33 GMT -5
It's good news and bad news...
The bill is currently in committee, in the EU Parliament (like the US House of Representatives). Informally, the committee has agreed to reject the bill. They will have a formal vote in a few days, where they will almost certainly officially reject it.
Assuming it's voted down as expected, the EU Commission (the executive branch, who sponsored the bill) will have the option of withdrawing it if they wish. If they don't voluntarily withdraw it, then the Parliament will have to vote a second time, before it's finally completely rejected. If it's voluntarily withdrawn or it's voted down twice, then it will be returned to the Commission who will have to redraft it, and everything will start all over again in 2016!
The catch here is that we are having EU elections in May, and there probably won't be time for a second committee vote before then! This means we are probably going to have to lobby against the bill during elections! Also, it will be the newly elected Parliament who will probably do the second vote.
While things seem to be looking good now, it's all going to get interesting in the next few months...
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Post by stillandrew on Feb 19, 2014 14:11:29 GMT -5
Thanks for the update! I have been following this issue since we traveled over there in 2006. Wow, it has been 8 years since we visited you Patrick.
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Post by PatrickW on Feb 20, 2014 11:54:15 GMT -5
Thanks for the update! I have been following this issue since we traveled over there in 2006. Wow, it has been 8 years since we visited you Patrick. What an 8 years it's been too! Your trip was really the beginning of all of the European organizations coming together. We are all really talking with each other a lot now, even sometimes fighting ferociously. You still come up in conversation here, and your visit is remembered fondly by many. I'm really glad you came. |
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Post by PatrickW on Mar 14, 2014 4:02:56 GMT -5
On Tuesday the EU parliament voted to return the current proposal to the Commission. In effect, this means the current proposal is politically dead, and will be returned to the Commission for redrafting. This is very good news. I made a longer post about it on my blog here: bifurcatedcarrots.eu/2014/03/proposed-new-eu-seed-law-politically-dead/I had a meeting this week with the CEO of Bingenheimer seeds in Germany, who will be part of the committee that redrafts the law. This seed company breeds their own varieties from scratch, and is a very good and well known company in Europe. Basically this committee has members from the EU seed industry, along side of members from the EU agricultural industry. By law, there is one seat allocated to NGOs, and this is the seat he will fill. He has no voting rights, and in principle is not allowed to speak. He is there as an observer only. He is allowed to raise his hand, and if they decide to they can let him speak, but he has no right to speak. This seat was formally filled by La Via Campesina, who decided they didn't want to do it anymore. It will be his task to try to influence the direction of the new seed law draft, and make it more palatable for NGOs and the European public. I guess you have to start somewhere. This whole process says a lot about democracy in general. |
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Post by bunkie on Mar 11, 2015 14:37:09 GMT -5
Thanks for the info all....and here's another short piece... EU Seed Regulation withdrawn by European Unionwww.gardenorganic.org.uk/news/eu-seed-regulation-withdrawn-european-union?dm_i=4UO,386KF,JCHUI,BJZ6M,1 Garden Organic has learned that the proposed EU Seed Regulation has been withdrawn by the European Union. Steve Thomson, Operations Director at Garden Organic says: “On Friday we learned that the current EU Seed Regulation legislation has been withdrawn, this was confirmed on Saturday when the official notification was posted on the EU official journal. We'd like to everyone who has supported us with this campaign. There has been no notification as to what will happen next, but we will keep you updated as to future developments, as and when they happen."." The EU Seed Regulation was last discussed by the European Commission in January when two options were outlined, the first being that the Commissioners accept an amended re-presented version of the rejected regulation in the work plan. An amended regulation would have adversely affected Europe’s biodiversity and seen gardeners and farmers threatened with being prevented from exchanging seeds and, as a consequence, no longer be able to grow heritage varieties. It would also see our own Heritage Seed Library come under direct threat. Garden Organic's preferred option involved the EU conducting an impact assessment, direct consultation with stakeholders, leading to a complete rewrite of the EU Seed Regulation. We will keep you updated as to future development as they happen. You can read more about the history of our campaign here. Follow us on social media #saveourseeds Posted: Monday, 9 March 2015 |
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Post by PatrickW on Mar 12, 2015 8:30:02 GMT -5
It's dead.
There's no word on what will happen next, but before it can come back there needs to be a public consultation and redrafting. The expectation is this would take about 2 years, if they even decide to do this.
In the meantime, we still have the old seed laws...
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Post by PatrickW on Mar 27, 2015 8:40:08 GMT -5
There was an update a few days ago. The European Commission made known it's intention to continue with seed law reform. They said there were two scenarios:
1. Even though I said they would need a new public consultation, they are now saying it may still be possible to rehash the old proposal, without a public consultation, but with significant changes. I think even doing this would take some time.
2. The other possibility is starting from scratch with a new public consultation, a process they say would likely take at least 2.5 years.
The scenario they choose depends on lobbying efforts over the next few months, and if any fresh ideas emerge. The real problem is they don't know what to do.
I personally doubt they could really rehash the old proposal. It's already been generally agreed the public consultation they did for this was flawed, and in particular used 'unverified data' (in other words -- lies) from the seed industry.
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Post by nicollas on Mar 28, 2015 3:55:12 GMT -5
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Post by synergy on Mar 30, 2015 1:15:11 GMT -5
"The EPO made clear that plants and animals stemming from conventional breeding can be patented."
Good grief, is this something new? It seems like a very slippery slope .
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