ECCA on the Strategic Agenda: Can a ‘Prosperous and Competitive’ Europe Deliver for Farmers?
As EU leaders were debating and drafting the EU Strategic Agenda for the next five years (2024-2029), we – the European Crop Care Association (ECCA) – have been focused on highlighting the synergy between food security and sustainable agriculture, facilitated by the post-patent plant protection products (PPP) industry. Fundamentally, we urged – and continue to urge – for an EU agricultural policy predicated on pragmatism, not political ideology.
We are therefore encouraged by the recently published final draft of the EU Strategic Agenda, which envisions a pragmatic path to climate neutrality and a desire to harness the potential of the green and digital transitions to create the markets, industries and high-quality jobs of the future. Moreover, we especially welcome the promise to promote a competitive, sustainable and resilient agricultural sector that continues to ensure food security.
The document’s emphasis on competitive, sustainable and resilient agriculture that places food security at the forefront taps directly into the core value of post-patent PPPs. With continued economic struggles, following supply-chain disruptions and increased business costs, cost-effective and efficacious PPPs are crucial for ensuring European farmers’ profitability. Post-patent PPPs provide the best combination of these requirements, as they benefit from an extended commercial life with the already covered R&D costs, and have a proven track record of providing a highly effective and affordable solution for pest control.
Crucially, in the context of food security, greater economic efficiency with post-patent PPPs reduces Europe’s dependence on imports thanks to lower supply costs and supports the economics for more affordable European food.
From a broader perspective, however, the document does not pay enough attention to agriculture – and the untapped potential of the tools, including post-patent PPPs, this sector desperately needs – in ensuring a prosperous and competitive Europe.
While we welcome the reference to the single market as the long-term engine of prosperity and convergence and the commitment to further deepen it, it fails to acknowledge market fragmentation cases affecting the agricultural sector. Notably, the lack of harmonized implementation of regulations ruling the authorizations of all post-patent PPPs across EU countries within the period prescribed by EU regulations.
Patchwork regulatory applications and authorizations across the EU are creating distortions in the single market – fueling Europe-wide inequalities in farmers’ access to tools that promote a competitive, sustainable and resilient agricultural sector that continues to ensure food security. In some parts of the EU, post-patent PPPs are required to repeat the safety review as new active ingredients, despite their prior approval and safe history of use, while in other EU Member States, there are inconsistencies in the approval process and delays in responding to applications.
Moreover, this fragmented regulatory environment is stifling European innovation – an area that is expected to be promoted as part of the EU’s efforts to boost competitiveness, according to the EU Strategic Agenda. The benefits of a streamlined approval framework for generic (post-patent) products are widely accepted when it comes to the pharmaceutical sector, in which the prevalence of generics has been proven to boost competition – drive innovation – and bring benefits in terms of cost and availability of options to consumers.
We are confident that EU policymakers are aware of this issue, considering the Agenda’s commitment to close the EU’s growth, productivity and innovation gaps with international partners and main competitors. While we strongly welcome this commitment, it is key to remember domestic partners, including ECCA’s members, with whom the growth, productivity and innovation gaps can be closed as regards Europe’s agricultural competitiveness.
Lastly, we are encouraged to see the mention of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as playing a central role in Europe’s economic and social fabric. Notably, ECCA members are predominantly made up of SMEs, collectively employing over 2,800 people across Europe and generating more than a billion euros in sales.
To enable SMEs from the post-patent PPPs industry to play this central role in Europe’s future, they need a fair and efficient regulatory environment – with an emphasis on ensuring that competition is not distorted, and that equal and fair market access opportunities are protected.
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