We are delighted to welcome you to Brussels for the symposium ‘PlantHealth Without Borders’, hosted by the Belgian Presidency of the Councilof the European Union. This event, which is co-organised with theHorizon Europe EUPHRESCO III project consortium, takes place at theBelgian Institute of Natural Sciences. This unique location vastly remindsus of our task as humans to take care of our planet’s health in all itsdimensions. On this very same location, in March 2020, the Royal Mint ofBelgium and the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety andEnvironment launched a commemorative two EURO coin to promote theInternational Year of Plant Health.In continuation of that initiative and to build on the idea of ‘protectingplants, protecting life’, the United Nations has designated the 12th ofMay as the International Day of Plant Health, to draw continued globalattention to how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reducepoverty, protect biodiversity and the environment, and boost economicdevelopment.Using the momentum of the International Day of Plant Health, theBelgian Presidency would like to emphasize the importance of collaborationin plant health at all levels - national, regional, and international.Plants are the basis for life on earth: they provide us with air to breatheand food to eat. As such, plant health is considered as a public good,and its protection is more than justified. Today, due to global warmingand human activities such as trade and travel, plants are under severepressure. Invasive pest species are one of the main drivers of biodiversityloss and threaten the delicate balance of life that sustains our planet.Plant pests can cause catastrophic economic and ecological damage.All stakeholders - policy makers, the agricultural sector, researchers andthe general public - share the responsibility to take up the challenge totackle this threat.As the title of the symposium - ‘Plant Health Without Borders’ - soelegantly describes, plant pests do not stop at our borders, so neithershould ...