Episode 1: The Genesis of the CPVO & the Path Ahead

0:12 Welcome to this new episode of Seeds of Tomorrow. Today we have the honor of hosting the Director General of Health and Food Safety of the European Commission, Miss Sandra Galina. Miss Galina, Welcome. Thank you. Bonjour Maputi. And we also have the President of the Community Plan Variety Office with us, Mr. Francesco Martina.

0:33 Mr. Martina, welcome to you too. Thank you. I'm very glad to be here with you. As an introduction, in 2025, we celebrated the 30 years of the CPVO, and we are delighted to kick off our new season of our podcast with a conversation between our President and the Director General. Francesco, the floor is yours.

0:55 Thank you, Sarah. Miss Galina, as Sarah said, we celebrated 30 years of operation of the Community Plan Variety Office and implementation of this important legal framework in the European Union, the European Union Plan Variety Right System. Can you remind us what led to the creation of this system and what was the founding vision when the system was created 30 years back?

1:29 Thank you, Francesco, for this question. The Community Plan variety rights system, as you rightly said, was created many years ago in 1994. So I think it's appropriate we start from there. Perhaps the best is to say which were the 2 core ambitions. That's it's foundation. The first one was to provide a very strong intellectual property system that could encourage bleeders to keep investing in research.

2:00 The second very important ambition was to support technical progress in tools and technologies of breeding. And this is not a minor challenge given the developments in technologies. Now we needed to implement these ambitions to bring them to life. And This is why the European Commission set up the Community Plan Variety Office, CPVO in short. So in a sense, the mission of this office was to manage a unitary system of protection that would support the innovative breeders and hear from big global prayers all the way to the very small family LED enterprises. The CPVO became a core part of the internal market. This is a very important reality that we always need to bear in mind.

2:50 Then we have the White paper on the internal market in 85. While all the barriers have to be abolished. You, all of you remember this to reinvigorate the European project. The many memories that come to my mind. But you know, the CVCPVO was established only 10 years later because it was part of a big implementation of the ideas that started to to be floated in 85.

3:19 Now the core idea was very simple, to create a level playing field in the EU that would reduce fragmentation. This is very much a light motif of many big initiatives that we can recognize and to also increase legal certainty. You rightly said, Francesco, this is a monumental piece of law. Now over the medium term, what what are the main goals of this is to have better competitiveness of the European breeders.

3:51 This, this is, these are not empty words, I would say, but also to enhance the attractiveness of the European market. And this is a real challenge. You know, at the end of the day, it's it's creation that should produce benefits for society, the whole of society, including the farmers and the consumers. What is really remarkable, and I would like to end here, is that those guiding principles are still valid today. They continue to shape how the system is implemented, and this is a very important factor.

4:29 So Sandra, you are underlining the importance of a piece of your legislation, meaning that we are part of the AKI Community as we used to call it so, which is very important for the stability of the European Union law in a very specific field. And you also underlined another important concept to the the, the, let's say our motto United in diversity because creating a territorial regional system that makes trade easier.

5:06 So we abolished, as you said, barriers to trade between Member States. And we all know today that seed trading and trading of plant material is a global market. It goes within the EU market and outside the EU market. So if we consider this framework and against this reality, what would be for you the key milestone in this journey over the past three decades that you would like to remember?

5:43 Yes. Now you mentioned a few things that are important before I go into milestones. I want to say that you say this is a very important piece of the key indeed in the enlargement negotiations is not a minor part of the negotiation. I want to be very clear about this. And you also mentioned that it basically is an antidote to fragmentation.

6:05 I think it has been extremely successful in that respect. You know, fragmentation in this area is a really has found its real solution with this with this action and with the really the day-to-day action of the CPVO. But now you mentioned to me milestones or which are the things that remain memorable. Well, of course the 95 date is memorable because you know, the office opened a few years in Brussels and then, you know, it went to Anjay in France.

6:38 And I'm very happy to have visited you during the celebrations this year. It's a beautiful, it's a beautiful agency and there are Brussels based officials, of course, but very few here. In a sense, these Brussels based officials at the very beginning found a real home there in Anjay and they have helped shaping the office into what it is today.

7:05 Now the, the after the year 2000, I can say more or less we went for expansion. We had a multiplication year on year of the, of the applications. This is a very important thing, the Breeders from EU, but also beyond EU, because you, you mentioned the, the fact that this is a global market quickly saw the advantage of a single approval that is valid in all EU member states.

7:31 I will never tire saying that this factor is a major element of internal market and of having, I would say, a solution to fragmentation. The CPVO worked on building trust amongst breeders, which is always a very important thing to do, but also with farmers and started to develop expertise and to develop its network. These were the years when, you know the the child became little by little an adult.

8:02 Now in after the year 2010, more or less, I'm trying to simplify. We entered an era of modernization. This is not just a CPVO, but you in particular, you embrace digitalization, streamlining of applications and procedures. I would like to thank all your colleagues who are busy with the digitalization or your office is not, it's not a small feature.

8:25 Then you have to try to have very good cooperation with national offices and international. Basically, the adult was growing into having relationships and the CPVO had to keep, I would say abreast of all the changes, you know, in a globalized market that was growing, was expanding and you know, the new breeding technologies were, were starting to appear as a very important factor for the office itself.

8:56 Now today, what can I say? Today with over 30,000 rights granted, the CPVO stands as a corner store of innovation, of sustainability, of competitiveness in European agriculture. I want to stress this. It's very, very important that people realize your reality. Nonetheless, let me say, even a mature system faces some challenges, and CPVO is not an exception.

9:26 The main challenge in my view is how best to embrace innovation, considering at the same time sustainability and consumer protection. The office is really experiencing first hand the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence, for instance, and this is a praise goes to you that you have embarked into this area, which is quite difficult. But I think that these are very exciting frontiers and you are building on a wave of progress.

10:00 For the time being the office has to to maintain its strong technical expertise. I stress this because it is on that type of work that all the others rely on, including ourselves here in the Commission, but has to also remain agile and forward-looking in an ever changing society. So not a small challenge, but I'm sure that you will be able to face up to it. Well, Sandra, challenges are opportunities for me. So even if we face difficulties, it does not mean that the outcome would be eventually negative. But I'm very confident, I'm positive that it will be positive also because laws and and the regulatory framework like the CPVR system for me are like living organisms. So they must evolve with times,

10:59 they must evolve with technology uptake and the whole, the better the system adapt, the more sustainable and supportive would be for innovators, for for the Breeders at the end of the day. And with this in mind, what would you say would be the issues that keep the CPVR system relevant and in times of evolving agricultural and intellectual property challenges? Well, I loved your metaphor of the living Organism, your analogy there, it's quite appropriate, especially because we're talking mostly about agriculture. Agriculture today faces unprecedented challenges. We have been experiencing it really during the previous mandate.

11:57 And also in this mandate, we have climate change, biodiversity loss, emerging pests and diseases, together with the pressing need to ensure sustainable productivity. All of this makes for agriculture to be at the at the centre of many tensions. Also, This is why I think it's very important that all our listeners realize that in this context, plant breeding. Plant breeding is vital to provide solutions for the future of our food systems.

12:27 For example, to breed crops that can resist to a disease or that resist, I don't know, 2 very harsh climatic conditions. This is all very important for the society at large, not for the Breeders. Only the CVR system, which you manage so well, Francesco, with your teams, offers legal certainty. This is very important.

12:54 It gives breeders predictable and enforceable rights across the EU. We have said a lot about fragmentation and how we fought it. This stability, the stability that this promotes, encourages continued investment in research and development and drive his innovation forward. 1 cannot invest if there is no stability or no recognition of rights. At the same time, let me say the system is adaptable. It evolves alongside the advances in plant breeding technologies.

13:26 It remains the only intellectual property right capable of offering robust protection for new plant varieties. I repeat it, it's the only intellectual property right capable of offering robust protection for new plant varieties that ensures that innovation is rewarded and supported throughout its open source nature.

13:50 Now in very short, I would like to say that the CVR, as the CVO has been operating it throughout these years is at the heart of agricultural innovation. It helps the EU maintain a secure food supply which should never be taken for granted. It ensures sustainability and competitiveness in a very fast evolving landscape. So I would like to say to you, Francesco, congratulations on a very successful 30 years, but I'm sure that the CPVO will continue it's success in supporting innovators for the benefit of society in the next 30 years. Thank you very much for all that you have. Thank you, Sandra.

14:35 And I would like to say that CPVO is not alone. CPVO works into a broader institutional framework. Therefore, the collaboration, for instance, with your Director General, Digi Sante, is a very important alliance for fulfilling our mission and looking into the next 30 years for satisfying the need of our breeders to have a strong supportive IP right system that can foster further innovation in the internal market. Thank you very much.

15:16 Leave the CPVO in my words. Thank you. Thank you, Francesco. Really thank you. Thank you very much to both of you and see you on the next episode.