Calls on the Commission to come forward with an action plan and to set up an expert group in order to work towards a more sustainable pest management system; highlights the potential of a pest management system that improves the interaction between plant breeding efforts, natural combat systems and pesticide use.

Notes that the most effective way to maintain genetic diversity in agriculture is by using it in vivo; notes that of the three DUS criteria (distinctiveness, uniformity and stability) applied to official EU seed catalogues, uniformity and stability are not natural characteristics in genetically diverse plants; notes that adaptation to climate change is dependent upon high genetic variation; notes the increasingly concentrated seed markets and decreased variation per variety; encourages the role played by farm seed systems and exchanges in empowering farmers, and recognises participative breeding as a long tradition of innovation in r ...[+++]ural communities.

This range of vegetation not only provides food for the adult animals but is also a decisive factor, since it not only influences, by natural selection, the characteristics of the animals which overcome the conditions and which manage to survive, breed and feed their young in such difficult conditions, as is the case of the Serpentina goats and their offspring, but is also a factor in changing the characteristics of the milk in accordance with the time of the year.

Its chemical composition is a perfect balance of volatile oils with sulphur compounds, enzymes, vitamin B, mineral salts and flavonoids. Another no less important characteristic is the specific genetic identity, demonstrated through DNA amplification techniques and the fruit of a natural selection process effected by applying selection methods handed down from generation to generation.

The soil and climatic conditions of the area, and the work of numerous generations of olive growers, have resulted in the natural selection of the Cornicabra variety, the best adapted to the area and the only one used in the production of ‘Montes de Toledo’ olive oil.

Where the number of authorisations available for an activity is limited because of scarcity of natural resources or technical capacity, a procedure for selection from among several potential candidates should be adopted with the aim of developing through open competition the quality and conditions for supply of services available to users.