The European Commission’s ongoing evaluation of the Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVR) legislation represents a very important opportunity for the EU plant breeding sector. The evaluation, covering both Regulation EC 2100/94 and the functioning of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO), aims to assess the system’s effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value more than 30 years after its creation.
A Proven Framework Under Review
Across Euroseeds’ work with members, several themes consistently emerge. The CPVR framework is widely regarded as the most reliable and cost‑effective mechanism for securing EU‑wide protection for new plant varieties. It enables breeders to rely on a single, harmonised title, reducing administrative burden and ensuring predictable protection throughout all European Member States. This predictability is key to supporting innovation and long‑term investment in plant breeding.
Where the System delivers and Where it Falls Short
At the same time, there are also areas where the system no longer fully meets today’s needs. Implementation and enforcement challenges, particularly regarding farm‑saved seed (FSS), remain a serious concern for breeders, with significant impact on legal certainty and return on investment.
Euroseeds has repeatedly stressed that the absence of effective and enforceable FSS mechanisms creates an uneven playing field and risks undermining innovation in crops where the exemption applies.
In addition to these structural challenges, Euroseeds has identified a longer list of priority points that would help modernise and improve the system.
These include, among others, strengthening provisional protection, updating the procedure for extending the duration of plant breeder’s rights, aligning the concepts of essentially derived varieties (EDVs) to the UPOV explanatory notes on this topic.
A Window to Modernize Plant Variety Protection
For Euroseeds and its members, the evaluation is therefore not only a technical exercise but a real opportunity. It allows the sector to advocate for a modernised and flexible system that guarantees legal certainty, supports innovation, and ensures fair access and balanced rights for breeders and farmers.
Euroseeds will continue coordinating closely with its committees, national associations and member companies to provide coherent input, share evidence and highlight practical experience from across the EU. As the public and targeted consultations progress, the sector remains strongly committed to supporting this evaluation and to contributing constructively to shaping the future of plant variety protection in Europe.
Editors’ Note: Francesca Garbato is the Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs Manager at Euroseeds.
