NEWS

EPSO welcomes the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Draft Orientations towards Work Programme 2025. For plant scientists, most relevant is cluster 6 on Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment and the Soil Mission.

In general, the draft orientations Work Programme 2025 are lagging behind the Strategic Plan 2025-27 and EPSO provided in its submission suggestions about how to address this.

For the Biodiversity destination, the “increase of agrobiodiversity – e.g. by supporting R&I on niche, underutilised and novel crops” are not yet considered as main expected outcomes. Cultivated biodiversity or agrobiodiversity is still underestimated in the draft orientations as a contributor to biodiversity.

Similarly, crop improvement and crop management can equally contribute to biodiversity and need to be supported at critical mass.

Regarding the Food Systems destination, the EC refers to ‘Ensuring healthy food and nutrition security …. In the Strategic Plan, crop improvement and adaptation is one path towards food and nutrition security, whereas this is not spelled out yet in the draft orientations.

Likewise, the agricultural primary sector should contribute comprehensively not only to sustainability, but at the same time to food and nutritional security via sufficient and nutritious food with macro-and micronutrients.

Contributions anticipated in the Strategic Plan should be included in the expected outcomes of the Orientations, such as “Key research areas for agriculture will include mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, fostering plant and animal breeding and conserving and improving the use of genetic resources (including the use of new technologies).”, “address crop diversification, improvement and adaptation”, “bolster plant health… leverage the potential of protein crops and underutilised crops.”

EPSO suggests major improvements to the Soil Mission: soils don’t exist without plants, or the ecosystems of which plants are the foundation organisms in both natural and agroecosystems. This interaction between plants and soils and soil health, should be added in the Orientations. Adding contributions from plant science and plant ecology towards soil health and sustainable soil resources will change the current mainly passive character into a balanced approach including interventions.

As explained in the EPSO position paper on Horizon Europe (Feb. 2023), EPSO suggests adding from 2025 on a critical mass effort on enabling crop improvement and adaptation for food and nutritional security, sustainability and bioeconomy.

To this end, EPSO suggests further implementation of four EPSO concepts (see statement).

EPSO looks forward to further discuss and help implement these recommendations with colleagues from the European Commission and the Member State ministries and funders.

 Click here to read: Full EPSO statement and find in the Annex the original submission.

EPSO submissions to the EC consultation are:

Biodiversity:                              Contribution ID: b0a23782-1474-45a8-8c83-3aa01b9a7a88

Food systems:                          Contribution ID: 57556a93-4537-4b65-a0a6-700f8e6cc90c

Circular economy & bioeconomy: Contribution ID: 6f30808d-3a24-4897-90f5-50345b7cabab

Innovative governance..:            Contribution ID: 2fa9392d-e837-4ff1-ae9c-97d8972378f7

Soil Mission:                             Contribution ID: edcd3f50-dd1b-4e78-a16b-8423b158fc59

 Contacts:

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director, BE

Timothy George, Hutton Institute, UK & EPSO Board

Odd Arne Rognli, NMBU, NO & EPSO President

Alan Schulman, LUKE, Univ. Helsinki, & former EPSO President

EPSO welcomes the position adopted by a plenary vote of the European Parliament on New Genomic Techniques (NGT). The vote was held on the proposal by the European Commission, presented on July 5th 2023, to adopt new legislation regarding plants bred using certain NGTs such as CRISPR/Cas9. According to the proposal, NGT plants will be exempted from European GMO legislation, provided that the induced changes can also be obtained using conventional breeding methods.

The position adopted by the European Parliament raises some uncertainties that should be amended in the upcoming trialogue between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission:

• We strongly suggest legislators not to require specific labelling of NGT-1 plants since these will be essentially identical to plants bred using conventional breeding methods.
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) should not be included in the NGT legislation because IPR issues are handled in separate legislation.
• EPSO welcomes that the parliament accounts for the genome size and structure of polyploid plants and other plants with large genomes addressing such complexities in a scientific correct manner and meet EPSO’s concern about the limit of 20 genome modifications specified in Annex I of the draft provided by the EC.
• The complete rewording of Annex I according to the Amendments from the Parliament contains several points that would at least distort scientific findings and the actual breeding process. We therefore strongly recommend essentially retaining the structure and references of Annex I developed by the EC.

With these conditions, EPSO believes the proposed legislation allows a balanced compromise, enabling the development of climate-resilient crops and increased productivity for European farmers. EPSO, therefore, urges the EU member states to promptly come together in support of a scientifically sound and timely NGT legislation.

EPSO identified key components in the legal proposal that should be protected in the Annex Must-protect components of the NGT legislation proposed by the European Commission , 19.01.2024 to the EPSO statement:

• The criteria for determining NGT1 status should be based on similarity to what can be obtained using conventional breeding methods.
• Products derived from NGT1 plants should not be labelled.
• Text on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) should not be included in the NGT legislation.

EPSO provided detailed comments and suggested a few improvements to the legal proposal in the EPSO statement on the European Commission’s legal proposal …, 06.11.2023. For example:

• The criteria for determining NGT1 should be counted per a basic set of chromosomes.
• Legislation should further enable field trials for scientific purposes.
• NGT1 plants should not be excluded from organic farming practices.

EPSO looks forward to engaging as a major stakeholder with Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission to achieve a well-balanced regulation. EPSO will continue providing scientific input in the course of the discussions with policy makers and other stakeholders.

 Read the full EPSO Comment to the EP vote, 14.2.2024

Read the full EPSO Annex must protect to the statement, 19.1.2024

Read the full EPSO statement to the EC’s legal proposal for a Regulation …on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed”, 5.11.2023.

EC legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed & Annexes, 5.7.2023

Contacts:

Jens Sundström, SLU Uppsala, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Odd Arne Rognli, NMBU / NO, EPSO President

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, Executive Director

The EC proposed to introduce a new classification called NGT, which encompasses genome-edited plants and plants with targeted insertions of new DNA, as long as the DNA originates from the same species or a crossable species. The EC suggest a more relaxed regulation of NGT plants compared to traditionally genetically modified organisms, provided that the genetic changes introduced are similar to those obtained using conventional breeding methods.

Since then, negotiations among the Member States and in European Parliament have introduced several possible amendments to the original legal proposal put forward by the European Commission. Some of the changes threaten the utility of the proposal for improving the current legislation. EPSO has therefore identified key components in the legal proposal that should be protected:

• The criteria for determining NGT1 status should be based on similarity to what can be obtained using conventional breeding methods.
  • As long as modifications introduced using NGT are similar to modifications created by conventional breeding methods, EPSO sees no need for criteria based on a risk assessment.

• Products derived from NGT1 plants should not be labelled.
• Text on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) should not be included in the NGT legislation.

EPSO provided detailed comments and suggested a few amendments to the legal proposal in the EPSO statement on the European Commission’s legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed…, 06.11.2023. For example:

• The criteria for determining NGT1 should be counted per a basic set of chromosomes.
• Legislation should further enable field trials for scientific purposes.
• NGT1 plants should not be excluded from organic farming practices.

EPSO looks forward to engaging as a major stakeholder with Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission to achieve a well-balanced regulation. EPSO will continue providing scientific input in the course of the discussions with policy makers and other stakeholders.

 Read the full EPSO Annex to the statement, 19.1.2024

Read the full EPSO statement to the EC’s legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed, 5.11.2023.

Read the summary that was submitted to the EC consultation on 5.11.2023 [Feedback reference F3442539].

• EC legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed & Annexes, 5.7.2023

Contacts:

Jens Sundström, SLU Uppsala, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Odd Arne Rognli, NMBU / NO, EPSO President

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, Executive Director

EPSO welcomes the move towards a more proportionate regulatory environment for NGT crops. EPSO acknowledges that the proposal is a balanced compromise and supports most of its content, especially the quasi-equivalence of NGT1 plants with conventionally bred ones and the omission of additional labelling requirements beyond the seed labelling.

EPSO has identified a few elements in the legal proposal that should be addressed:

1-Criteria for determining the status of NGT1 plants:

EPSO suggests that the maximum number of targeted genetic changes allowed in NGT1 plants (20) should be counted per basic set of chromosomes to compensate for differences in genome size and complexity between different plant species.

2-Field trials:

EPSO believes that the legislation should enable a simplified approval system for field trials for scientific purposes.

3-Not exclude NGT1 plants from organic farming practices:

For the benefit of organic farming, EPSO strongly recommends that excluding NGT1 category plants should not be part of this legislation.

EPSO looks forward to engaging as a major stakeholder with Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission to achieve a well-balanced regulation. EPSO will continue providing scientific input in the course of the discussions with policy makers and other stakeholders.

 Read the full EPSO statement to the EC’s legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed”, 5.11.2023.

Read the summary that was submitted to the EC consultation on 5.11.2023 [Feedback reference F3442539].

• EC legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed, 5.7.2023

Contacts:

Jens Sundström, SLU Uppsala, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Odd Arne Rognli, NMBU / NO, EPSO President

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director

The 27th Europe-wide seminar of the series supported by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders.

TTT: The seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET).

 On 16th November 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “The potential of gene editing”.

Mariette Andersson, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Stockholm, Sweden: “The Swedish CRISPR-potato – a sustainability challenge solved with a few cuts in the genome”

Frank Hartung, EPSO Agricultural Technologies Working Group: “European regulation of GM plants: The new proposal and some implications”

Gwendolyn Kirchner, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK: “ENHANCED GRAVITROPISM2 controls root angle in barley and wheat”

The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.

EPSO members register in advance for this meeting: registration link

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the autumn seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 27th EPSO seminar on the 16th November 2023.

 Tim George, Alan Schulman and Marie-Theres Hauser

EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee

 Click here to read: Full EPSO news item

Contacts:

Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & Adviser to the EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board

EPSO welcomes the proposal and sees the move towards a proportionate, more product-based regulatory environment, with evaluation on a case-by-case basis, as an important step into the future.

It will enable Category-1 NGTs (NGT1), which cannot be distinguished from conventional plants produced by random mutagenesis, to make a substantial contribution to the Farm-to-Fork and Biodiversity Strategies under the EU Green Deal.

These NGTs, regulated like other breeding methods under current standards, will provide additional tools for breeding environmentally sustainable, future-climate-ready, healthful, and more diverse crops and foods, contributing to Food and Nutritional Security, which will help fulfill the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Consumer surveys in various European countries have found increasingly positive attitudes towards NGT use to deliver e.g. improved nutritional qualities and environmental benefits.

 For issues which need further clarification and could be improved, see the first reaction and later on the full statement EPSO will develop in the coming weeks.

EPSO looks forward to engaging as a major stakeholder with Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission to achieve a well-balanced regulation. EPSO will continue providing scientific input in the course of the discussions with policy makers and other stakeholders.

Read the full “EPSO first reaction to the EC’s legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed”, 6.7.2023

• EC legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed & Annexes, 7.2023

Contacts:

Jens Sundström, SLU Uppsala, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Odd Arne Rognli, NMBU / NO, EPSO President

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, Executive Director