EUROPEAN-SEED.COM I EUROPEAN SEED I 25 Graeme Taylor, Director of Public Affairs at the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA). Crop protection prod- ucts are a vital component in the challenge to produce enough high-quality food for everyone. Bringing this message across is not an easy task, particularly in an industry that constantly finds itself under attack. Graeme has run an excellent cam- paign (‘With or Without’), creating more awareness about the needs and benefits of crop protection products that is designed to shift the reputation of the industry from one that is closed, to one that is lis- tening to society and ready to engage and address concerns. On behalf of ECPA, he has continuously argued that policy should be informed by science and designed to manage risk, particularly through his active visible advocacy on the re-approval of glyphosate which set new standards for industry association advocacy and commu- nication. He wants to see a predictable and proportionate EU regulatory environment that fosters innovation and encourages competitiveness. Ido Verhagen, Executive Director of the Access to Seeds Index, which aims to measure and compare the efforts of the world’s leading seed companies to enhance the productivity of smallholder farmers. In 2016, the first Access to Seeds Index came out and the second Index is scheduled to come out at the end of 2018. Although there was criticism of the Index by the seed sector, both in the prepara- tory phase as well as after publication, the fact remains that the index created more awareness on access to seeds in develop- ing countries and on the role seed com- panies can play in improving smallholder farmer productivity. With that, Ido has influenced the EU and global seed sector in a lasting way. David Zaruk, Professor at Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles and KUL Brussel (Odisee) & blogger ‘The Risk Monger’. As a professor, David lectures on Risk Communications, EU Lobbying, Corporate Communications and PR. As a blogger, he has tackled many controversial topics such as neonics, bee health, glyphosate, food safety, GMO’s and many more. In his blogs, David challenges simplistic solutions to hard problems on environmental-health risks in a pro-science, anti-dogma manner. He stands open to being challenged while challenging others to keep the debate on a scientific ground. In 2017 he challenged the influence of tort law firms in fabricat- ing science (the Portier Papers), raised the need for scrutiny on NGO funding and is defending the role of evidence in the EU risk assessment process. IdoVerhagen DavidZaruk GraemeTaylor