EU Seed Laws Struck Down by High Court…(not yet!)
[update: I've been told this is a prejudicial opinion, thus not yet the ruling of the court and not yet a binding decision. Hopefully we'll have a more concrete ruling later.]
Yesterday an EU Advocate-General sided with French seed organization Kokopelli on the provision in EU law prohibiting the sale of unregistered varieties.
In reference to EU seed laws and related French regulations, the Advocate-General said they
“violate the principle of proportionality, free enterprise, free movement of goods, and the principle of non discrimination.”
The Advocate-General said the official seed catalog has
“nothing to do with plant health”
and
“it is up to farmers to decide which varieties they grow”
the Advocate-General added
“the fact that farmers are confined to the listed varieties greatly reduces genetic diversity in European fields.”
Unfortunately the original opinion was written in German, and as of the time of this post had not yet been translated into English. You can read the opinion in a variety of non-English languages here.
Almost all of Kokopelli’s arguments were upheld, and most of the opposition’s arguments were not.
Australian Seedsavers Portuguese Tour
Margarida of the Portuguese Seed Savers recently sent an email to a mailing list I’m on, telling everyone about the visit to their country by the founders of the Australian Seedsavers. One of the coordinators of the Australian organization is Kate, known to some of you because she has a blog and visited some of us in Europe too.
Anyway, the Australian Seedsavers met more than 400 people in Portugal. They visited food gardens at several locations and taught workshops on collecting and saving seeds, traditional plant varieties, edible seeds, permaculture, activism and kitchen gardens in schools.
You can read more about this in Portuguese here, or in English here.
A Seed for Change
Film maker Alex Ikonomidis recently sent me an email to tell me about his latest project, A Seed for Change.
All I can say is it looks great to me! I think if anyone would like to help out with a donation or tips or pointers, he would like to hear from you.
EmmaCooper.org
Within hours of me announcing my new domain, fellow blogger Emma Cooper in the UK also announced her new domain, EmmaCooper.org. Emma is a blogger, podcaster, writer, gardener, chicken raiser and who knows what else. She and her partner Pete have been working hard the last days and weeks preparing a new website, where you can read more about her and what she does.
Seed Saving in Poland
I posted a few weeks ago about the International Seed Swap and Days of Action in Brussels. I’ve recently heard of some activities planned in Poland to coincide with this (website in Polish). If you’re in Poland, consider stopping by!
