b'organise this collaboration, that is an important achievement. And if I look at Euroseeds today, I think we have both, efficient and effective structures and a very dedicated team of experts.ES: AS YOU SAID, SUCCESS IS ALSO THANKS TO AEuroseeds biggest achievement TEAM. WHAT ARE THE KEY FACTORS TO A GREATis maintaining a true spirit TEAM? GvE:Historians remain deeply divided whether it is individualof collaboration in a highly men and women that create history or if history itself just hap-pens and allows individual men and women to make use of thedifferentiated, highly competitive and newly emerging opportunities.As individuals, we probably have a preference for the firsttruly international industry.theory; but in my view and experience, both elements are inter-dependent and together drive developments. Still, I think it is individual talent, determination and commitment that make the difference. But you also need an environment where they canble individual experts. This has been the base for taking on thrive. That is why I think that rules, structures and processesnew tasks and responsibilities and providing more services to are important, provided they are designed in ways that drive aour companies at association level such as e.g. the European participatory discussion and decision making as well as an effi- Seed Treatment quality Assurance scheme ESTA, the Patent cient practical implementation of those decisions. In Euroseeds,Information system PINTO, or the Nagoya Navigator, a guide we are committed to the concept of subsidiarity; we alwaysthat facilitates companies compliance with international rules try to decide at the most appropriate level, i.e. the one closeston genetic resources.to the subject in question. De facto, that means a bottom-upI am also very content with the way we have developed our approach. On the other hand, if you would look top-down, we tryannual congress over the years. Bringing together more than a to make sure that the Board exercises leadership on structure,thousand participants from all over the world, every year, is only finance and strategy and provides guidance on principal policypossible if you provide value for money. The continuous growth issues. And we have a clear understanding between membersof the Congress suggests we do just that.and Euroseeds secretariat that it is the latter that is expectedAnd maybe the fact that today nobody in the seed industry to bring the necessary expertise to the table to efficiently pre- nor outside can imagine or would like to go back to the time pare and lead the internal processes and then effectively drivewithout this organisation.the external implementation of our members positions. This provides a strong base of trust, gives great confidence to theEditors Note: If you want to read more about Garlichs big-team members and offers them a lot of potential for personalgest regrets, frustrations in EU politics and the right to lobby, and professional growth; but it also means a lot of individualplease read the full article on our website, european-seed.comresponsibility and continuously satisfying high expectations. And, last but not least, diversity is not only important for breed-ing new and better plant varieties. It is also an essential element when you design a team such as the Euroseeds secretariat. We today have a dozen nationalities from all over Europe and also Africa on the team, with very different cultural backgrounds, educations, work experiences etc . This very much stimulates and enriches our discussions. ES: AND PERSONALLY? WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT(S)? GvE:Thats probably more for others to decide. What I am proud of is building a true team of highly motivated and capa-8IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'