The first time that Poland chaired the Council of the European Union was in 2011. At that time the main priorities were negotiation and future accession of new member states; military and energy safety; immigration; concurrency and democracy. From a global perspective, Europe today is in a different place. Armed conflicts, especially the Russian invasion in Ukraine, changes in global politics, reconfiguration of the international order, and the declining importance of Europe in the worldwide economy, suggest that the way of thinking needs to change.
Seven Pillars
Thirteen years from the first presidency and twenty from joining the EU, from the beginning of 2025, Poland will chair the Council with the main slogan “Security, Europe!”. The slogan refers to Poland’s ambitions for the presidency, captured in seven pillars — the ability to defend ourselves, protect European people and borders, resist foreign interference and disinformation, ensure security and freedom of economic activity, energy transformation, competitive and resilient agriculture and health security. The Polish role in the Union has been visualized in the official logo, designed by Jerzy Janiszewski, the creator of the legendary graphic sign of Solidarity (1980). The Polish flag permeating the EU letters reflects Poland’s involvement in European affairs and its ambitions to set new directions for development.
A New Way for Agriculture
The Polish presidency starts with the new institutional cycle of the EU, so it is seen as an opportunity to set new goals, suggestions, and processes for the next years. A new way of thinking is especially needed in the agricultural sector. New challenges regarding climate change, the approach to the green revolution, changes in the demography of rural areas, and especially the future competitiveness of European agriculture will need space in the European agenda.
For the upcoming months, Poland has defined its main priorities regarding the agro-sector also under the security slogan and its ambitions to solve the main issues of European agriculture. The Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Czesław Siekierski, announced that the presidency will focus mainly on securing the position, functioning and competitiveness of the sector and its resilience to crises.
Poland will not only continue the legislation process but will also formulate new directions, and new challenges related to the preparation of new policies in specific areas. A major task will be discussing the shape of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2027.
The NGT Proposal
To secure European and global food safety, Poland will focus on the revision of the Green Deal and propose solutions that will not only be environmentally friendly but also acceptable and beneficial for the farmers and the European agricultural value chain. Looking into the proposed legislation and ongoing discussions, the main focus will be the proposal for the regulation of certain new genomic techniques (NGTs). Poland recognizes the importance of obtaining these techniques for plant breeders who will have the possibility to develop new varieties in a shorter time and with new traits that will help mitigate climate change and have the potential for sustainable transformation. During the presidency, the ambitious goal will be to find a compromise at Council level. Poland will mainly focus on the issue of equal access to the techniques, especially for SME breeding companies, which is directly connected with the patenting issue. The prepared compromised proposition will try to find a way to secure the current European status based on the values and intellectual property compromise of the plant variety protection system (PVP).
What About the Patenting of NGTs?
The Polish authorities have frequently indicated that the main issue for the acceptance is the current possibility to patent NGT plants and as a result, the lack of the full breeders’ exemption. The proposal secures free market access for seeds of varieties where the owner will not file a patent application and will resign from patent protection, remaining with the PVP system. This status will be confirmed by a special verification procedure supervised by the Commission. In case of remaining patent protection, the material should be specially labelled and Member States will have a possibility for an opt-out decision regarding such material. In short, the Polish proposal aims for a mechanism that will encourage owners of varieties obtained with the use of NGTs to resign from patent protection.
But There’s Also the PRM Proposal
During the Presidency, Poland also plans to be active on the Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) file. The Polish authorities consider this file as a large technical piece of legislation, requiring attention and detailed work. This regulation will be key in getting new plant varieties and innovation to the market. Because of earlier work, there was a lot of discussion but only a few decisions on the future text were taken. With three work meetings planned in the next six months, current work progress at the Council level doesn’t allow for closing this file. Therefore, the main goal is to work on the file, find as much as possible agreement within the expert working group, and prepare a detailed report with an advanced text for the next presidency (i.e. Denmark from July-December 2025).
Development of Rural Areas
During the presidency, Poland wishes to take care of the future development of rural areas, by differentiation of its funding sources. Poland will put some pressure on the legislative work regarding the market organization and the food value chain, especially given the farmer’s position in the system. This is now the position of the Ministry on the involvement of farmers’ voices in the decision process and organized dialogue. Regarding external issues, the focus will be put especially on the agreement with MERCOSUR countries, on the future relation of the EU with Ukraine and a special concern on the stability of European markets.
The Official Fruit
During the presidency, there are some 300 official meetings planned in Poland in 24 cities. And a high number of them will focus on the agricultural sector issues, as a possibility to exchange experiences in different areas. It has also been announced that the official fruit of the presidency will be the Polish apple. Poland is the biggest producer of apples in the EU and 4th in the world. Polish apples are famous for their taste and quality, appreciated by international consumers.
Editor’s Note: Artur Paszkowski is Deputy Director of the Polish Seed Trade Association
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