Thanks a lot for your thoughts, Fulya and Christoph!

My thinking after the conference: It was very interesting and I learned a lot. But was honestly a bit taken aback how little support our arguments got, especially from Germany, but also in general. There was no clear political direction that action is needed, even in the closing statement. The presentations were great, but there was a lot of explicit support to keep the status quo. Which I find very motivating to work on changing that to be honest!

I feel we set the agenda and had two very good presentations, but we did not drive the discussion in terms of content yet. There is just not enough both technical and political support around the assumption that there is still a problem in the first place – which of course there is!

Even if our arguments make technical sense, I got the very strong feeling that random mutagenesis it not the gap we should be focusing on closing without bringing in additional points, at least in our communication. I felt that the scope of protection in combination with the big debates like GE (and in fact with the current tricks, lots of varieties are affected) and farm to fork strategy, have a lot of potential we are not using yet. Of course this includes random mutagenesis as well, but not as the only starting point.

And I think for us to win, we need both a broader public and support from political level, as wells as concrete impact stories. Right now, from communications and fundraising, we got the feedback that our communication “sounds very similar” for too long. Which of course is true, because the problem is the same, but I think there are a lot of untold stories.

As an NPOS alliance said we would re-evaluate our strategy after July. I really think this is needed, we should discuss which arguments “fly best”. I very much like our path, but I think it is time when it needs a bit of broadening, for a resolution in the EP but also in general.

I would really appreciate an exchange together with Fulya for an EU bubble perspective!
Can we do this during the next call and really make time for it? Including to decide for a concrete ask?

I would also be curious to hear from others who were at the conference!

Regarding the Austrian minister, I’ll write you and Johanna separately.

Best,

Dagmar

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Npos_2018 [mailto:npos_2018-bounces@testbiotech.de] Im Auftrag von Christoph Then
Gesendet: Freitag, 9. Juli 2021 14:26
An: npos_2018@testbiotech.de
Betreff: Re: [Npos_2018] what we should do on the EU

Thanks Fulya,

as you mentioned, we were successful in passing resolutions in the past.

I would not expect major problems this time.

there indeed a new problem as explored by us: if patents on random

mutagenesis are not stopped, patents on New GE will cover both, GE and

conventional breeding. This is a pressing problem also in regard to F4F

and the Green Deal.

I am in contact with green group to find out if they think a new

resolution could be tabled, just to test the waters ...

Christoph

Am 09.07.21 um 13:32 schrieb Fulya BATUR:

> Dear Christoph,

> Congratulations for yesterday's effort, it looked intense !

> With regards to a Resolution from the European Parliament; while I agree that it could be an interesting and important tool moving forward, I would also like to highlight that, given that two specific Resolutions have already been adopted on the topic in the past, MEP's would need strong arguments to take over the topic once again...

> The arguments would need to show that the problems have not been solved without any doubt, which will prove tricky, especially given that the issue of patentability is not viewed as a problem anymore by other players such as the seed industry, which were quite instrumental in getting the cross-party consensus needed to get past Resolutions adopted.

> Even if the Greens could support a new Resolution on the sole issue of patentability & random mutations, I do not see how that text would actually pass through a Committee vote, let alone the plenary, without a wider approach that is both new compared to past EP Resolutions, and that links up to current "hot topics" in the political arena.

> In this context, I think it would be interesting to think about bringing additional perspectives in, linked to dossiers that are already on elected officials' tables, such as new genetic engineering, the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the more general discussions on sustainable food systems. The topic cannot be limited to patentability, random mutations and conventional breeding, but should also address the scope of protection, product-by process and wide claims, the issue of native traits, the impact of patents in general seed and food systems etc...

> In my opinion, this is crucial to achieve success, especially if the European Commission is to feel pressured to move... There should also be concrete asks, whether directed at the EPO examiners themselves, Member States who sit at the Admin Council, or the Commission, to consider a re-opening of the Directive ?

> It might be useful to discuss these issues further internally before a move on the EP, and I would be very much willing to bring the EU Bubble perspective on it, if it is of any help.

> Best

> Fulya

> Fulya BATUR, PhD

> Consultancy, Training, Research & Legal Advice

> www.kybele-consult.com

> 0032.484.77.86.18

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Npos_2018 <npos_2018-bounces@testbiotech.de> On Behalf Of Christoph Then

> Sent: Friday, 9 July 2021 07:51

> To: npos_2018@testbiotech.de

> Subject: Re: [Npos_2018] what we should do on the EU

> Thanks Dagmar,

> I am not in a hurry, however we will need the resolution in time, before the December meeting of the Admin Council. We have to prepare it during summer break, if we want to have a chance.

> you did not miss a lot in during last weeks. I could not get any information on the outcome of the June meeting. Maybe you can.

> But if were listening to the conference yesterday, you might have received a similar message as me:

> My learning from the conference yesterday was: there was some interesting support on our arguments.

> However: it is not clear if we have support from German government and if so, it is likely to be weak. Situation in Austria unclear, we still need a meeting with the minister. No support from the EU Commission. The EPA not interested in any changes. The German breeders association in a wait and see position. German farmers organisation not likely to get active. Huge lobby from industry.

> There is not very much left to support our demands from the political institutions. Our goals for this year may be unlikely to be achieved.

> So we have to see what we can do ... as long as Mr Ernst & Co can say that, besides no patents on seeds, everybody is happy with the situation, we will not gain success.

> happy to receive more comments

> Christoph

> Am 08.07.21 um 18:52 schrieb ARCHE NOAH Dagmar Urban:

>> Hi Christoph,

>> I have noted a resolution as a possible option during todays conference as well.

>> But I would really prefer to have a bit of a discussion before that, what our learnings of today's conference are more generally (and reflect a bit on it myself) and how to move forward, ideally in the next call or if necessary in an ad hoc call before.

>> I was just on a break for several weeks, so please correct me if this has changed and I overlooked important decisions!, but I understood that we agreed during the members meeting in spring that we would wait for outcomes of the June admin council + conference and then reassess if our current strategy works, or what we need/want to focus on.

>> I don't have anything against contacting the Greens specifically, but for me after today's conference there is a lot of food for thought, I'd love to discuss before moving ahead, including the focus of our argumentation and what individual members, and AN specifically, can do to support.

>> Cheers,

>> Dagmar

>> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

>> Von: Npos_2018 [mailto:npos_2018-bounces@testbiotech.de] Im Auftrag

>> von Christoph Then

>> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 8. Juli 2021 17:54

>> An: npos_2018@testbiotech.de

>> Betreff: [Npos_2018] what we should do on the EU

>> after getting notice of the des-interest of the EU Commission and Mr

>> Ernst telling us that the EU is happy with the current status, we

>> should work on a new resolution of EU Parliament.

>> if you have any thoughts on this let me know, otherwise I might try to