On 6 May the European Commission will present its plans for the combination of 12 EU-guidelines on sowing-seed. Part of the new regulations has already become known. At the moment they do not apply to old, not commercial varieties of sowing-seed, which are excluded from the complex admission procedures. This exception will, however, disappear in the future, which will mean the end of the old, non-commercial varieties.
This is done according to the wishes of the large sowing-seed producers, who want to get rid of the non-commercial competition. The old varieties are exchanged or passed-on. It is therefore a matter of money. According to the plans of the European Commission, it will be prohibited for agrarians and horticulturists in future to pass on (by themselves) their increased sowing-seed without variety permission. A permission procedure would in any case bring extra expenses.
The old varieties are becoming more popular meaning EU plans are meeting a lot of opposition. In the Austrian federal State of Lower Austria, rare potato varieties are cultivated for generations already. And in all of Europe there are still thousands of tomato, pepper and potato varieties grown. Therefore all parties represented in the Austrian Parliament are in agreement, that exceptions must remain in the entrance procedure. Minister of Agriculture Nikolaus Berlakovich requires "strong improvements" from the European Commission. The Austrian 'Bauernbund' wrote a letter to the Euro commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection Tonio Borg, requesting, "exceptions in practice".