John McGilloway ( 30455)

The LEFT staff

11/04/2024

Briefing REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the production and marketing of forest reproductive material, amending
Regulations (EU) 2016/2031 and 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council
and repealing Council Directive 1999/105/EC (Regulation on forest reproductive material)

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI)

Rapporteur: Herbert Dorfmann

The LEFT shadow Luke Flanagan

Rapporteur (group, nationality) Herbert Dorfmann (Germany EPP)

Report Number and Committee, (COM(2023)0415 – C9-0237/2023
reference document of the EC

Proposed act / Procedure Legislative Report

Opinions ENVI
The LEFT-shadow(s) Luke Flanagan
The LEFT Staff J McGilloway
The LEFT position in Committee In favour
adoption in Committee/result For 32, against 1, abs 9.

Adoption in plenary April ll 2024

Request for amendments/split,
separate and RCVs/ debate for yes
the plenary
Request for debate in the group no
Political relevance for our group Medium
Media relevance Medium
Internal position Not controversial
Positions of other political groups Not controversial
/ possible external controversy
The LEFT position (shadow) Abstain.
Result of the vote in plenary,
result of the vote on key
amendments
Ex summary

Forest reproductive material (FRM), are so far regulated by Regulations EU 2016/2031 and
2017/625 and the Directive 1999/105/EC. With this proposal, the Commission unifies and
updates the previous legal acts under a single legal framework, while taking into account
new scientific and technological discoveries on FRM.
The proposed Regulation revises the legislation, which applies to production and marketing
of forest reproductive material (FRM) by replacing a marketing Directive with a Regulation.
The proposed Regulation also maintains the principles of registration of 'parent trees' ('basic
material') and certification before that FRM can be placed on the market.

While the shadow was not against much of the proposal, the amendment by the EPP
expanding the Scope of Annex I to include eucalyptus was not acceptable and therefore the
indication was to abstain in Committee. We will table AMs in plenary to remove this, if
successful we may vote in favour, if not we will abstain on the final vote.

Background and context.

The proposed Regulation revises the legislation, which applies to production and marketing
of forest reproductive material (FRM) by replacing a marketing Directive with a Regulation.
The proposed Regulation also maintains the principles of registration of 'parent trees' ('basic
material') and certification before that FRM can be placed on the market.

It is based on two pillars: (i) the harvesting of forest reproductive material from registered
parent trees (i.e. basic material) to ensure traceability and (ii) the certification of FRM to
ensure high quality of seeds.

Under the proposed Regulation, the assessment of sustainability characteristics of parent

trees is strengthened. Those trees are checked for characteristics that contribute to more
resilient forests, e.g. tolerance to diseases, better adaptation to the local climatic and
ecological conditions.

Better adaptation means that trees grow well and do not display symptoms of stress. The
information about the adaptation of parent trees provides users information about the
suitability of FRM harvested from those parent trees for current and future projected
climatic and ecological conditions in a certain area.

In other words information about the suitability of FRM lets foresters know where that FRM
should best be planted. This will ensure that the right tree is planted in the right place and
will allow speeding up climate change adaptation of forests, thus ensuring their continued
productivity in the future.

Seeds of agricultural crops are produced, certified, and harvested in cycles of one year,
while in the case of FRM it may take 50-100 years before seeds and forest plants can be
harvested from basic material. Because of these long production cycles, it is essential to
produce high-quality FRM and ensure traceability to both the original parent trees from
which that FRM has been harvested and the climatic and ecological conditions under which
those parent trees were grown.

New rules to facilitate the conservation of endangered forest genetic resources will enhance
the genetic diversity of trees and contribute to biodiversity conservation.

The creation of National contingency plans will help ensure sufficient supply of forest
reproductive material to reforest areas affected by extreme weather events, fires, pest
outbreaks and other disasters.

Plenary position.

While the shadow was not against much of the proposal, the amendment by the EPP
expanding the Scope of Annex I to include eucalyptus was not acceptable and therefore the
indication was to abstain in Committee. We will table AMs in plenary to remove this, if
successful we may vote in favour, if not we will abstain on the final vote. Eucalyptus
plantations can threaten native biodiversity, sucking up huge amounts of water and
degrading land. The flammability of eucalyptus oils and bark can also pose a deadly fire risk
to those living nearby.