EU Agriculture Ministers Urged to Protect Agrobiodiversity and Farmers’ Rights in PRM Negotiations
Brussels, 25 November 2025 – With the final phase of negotiations on the Regulation on the Production and Marketing of Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) underway, a coalition of over 200 farmers’, breeders’, seed savers and environmental organisations have raised an urgent alarm to EU Agricultural Ministers. In a joint letter sent today, the signatories warn that the current Council proposal fails to provide necessary safeguards for agrobiodiversity and farmers’ rights, and risks creating a seed system unfit for climate resilience, sustainable agricultural practices, and food sovereignty.
Representatives from various sectors, including organic and agroecological agriculture, small seed companies, and conservation networks, have united to express their concerns about the current proposal. They highlight that the draft regulation would severely weaken the legal space for farmers, breeders, and seed initiatives to conserve and develop Europe’s crop diversity. This could have devastating consequences for essential rights that are already recognized in various European countries.
The Danish Presidency plans to test Member State support for the current proposal at an attaché meeting on 28 November, with a possible COREPER mandate in mid-December to conclude the Council’s internal process. This leaves only a few days for Member States to make crucial decisions that could either safeguard farmers’ rights and seed diversity or irreversibly restrict them.
According to Magdalena Prieler, representative of ARCHE NOAH, “Europe is on the brink of a decision that could either protect or undermine the very actors who keep agrobiodiversity alive. Member States must choose wisely.”
Eric Gall, Deputy Director of IFOAM Organics Europe, emphasizes the need for a framework that reflects the realities of organic and agroecological systems: “The future PRM legislation must provide the legal space for a diversified seed market and for farmers to choose the cultivars best suited for their farming systems. For example, limiting conservation varieties to certain crop species and their region of origin would severely hinder the many organic and agroecological farmers and breeders who rely on them.”
Agrobiodiversity, the foundation of resilient agriculture, has been drastically declining for decades. Small seed producers, conservation networks, and farmer-to-farmer exchange systems play a crucial role in maintaining and renewing this diversity. However, the current PRM draft risks tightening the regulatory framework around these non-commercial, diversity-enhancing activities instead of protecting them.
Alessandra Turco, representative of the European Coordination Via Campesina, states that “On-farm PRM breeding, dynamic management, and exchanges between farmers are essential for adapting plants to local growing conditions and are a cornerstone of agroecology. These practices are not marketing and must be recognized as farmers’ collective rights outside the scope of the PRM regulation, as is already the case in several EU countries.”
With the Council’s internal deadline approaching rapidly, civil society organizations warn that Member States have a final, narrow window to integrate essential safeguards:
– Exclude on-farm conservation and dynamic management activities from PRM rules. Treating exchanges for conservation or breeding as commercial marketing threatens thousands of grassroots seed initiatives.
– Guarantee farmers’ rights to save, use, and exchange their seeds – including with financial compensation. These rights are recognized internationally (ITPGRFA, UNDROP, CBD) and must be implemented in EU law, outside of the scope of PRM marketing.
– Ensure simple, accessible registration for old and newly developed conservation varieties, for all species and without geographical limitations. Their use must not be restricted by regional or crop-type limitations.
– Require that Value for Sustainable Cultivation and Use (VSCU) testing is done under organic or low-input conditions. Sustainability must be assessed as a system, not as isolated traits.
– Protect nano-enterprises from disproportionate administrative burdens. These small seed companies are essential for keeping locally adapted seed diversity available.
– Guarantee transparency on breeding methods and intellectual property rights. Farmers and breeders need clear information to make informed decisions and safeguard free access to genetic resources.
The coalition urges Agriculture Ministers to correct the proposal before the Council finalizes its position, ensuring the regulation reflects the needs of the farmers, gardeners, breeders, and seed networks who maintain Europe’s agricultural resilience. Failure to do so would represent a historic setback for agrobiodiversity, farmers’ rights, and Europe’s capacity to adapt to the climate crisis.
To read the joint letter to EU Agricultural Ministers, visit www.arche-noah.at/jointletteronprm.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.