Opinion Factsheet 

EU action plan for organic farming

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Opinion Number: CDR 1968/2021
Rapporteur: BREŽAN Uroš
Commission: NAT
Status: Adopted
Date: 02/12/2021
 
 urges the European Commission to establish a platform for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the action plan, bringing together all stakeholders, particularly representatives of LRAs;
 calls on LRAs to get involved in the creation of Bio districts, supporting the development of bottom-up initiatives which can contribute to developing rural areas and increasing consumption of local organic products
 stresses that in order to triple the EU organic land area by 2030, a three to five fold increase in CAP expenditure on organic farming is needed, meaning that up to 15% of CAP spending should be dedicated to the organic sector
 recommends that the Commission thoroughly evaluate the national strategic plans submitted by the Member States in order to monitor that they will contribute to achieve the target of 25% of agricultural land devoted to organic farming by 2030
 recommends that the Member States introduce a bonus-malus system as part of the eco-schemes of the new CAP and investigate how the "polluter pays" principle can be implemented
 highlights the nutritional and environmental benefits in consuming organic food and calls to address the question of accessibility to the consumption of organic products, both in terms of affordability and availability of organic products at points of sale that are easily reachable by consumers, in order to allow all consumers to purchase organic food
 proposes tweaking the EU organic logo by adding the words "EU organic" as well as the possibility of indicating the production region under the green leaf in order to increase consumer recognition;
 is pleased that the European Commission intends to organise a yearly EU-wide "Organic Day"
The COR with the European Commission, European Economic and Social and Committee, IFOAM and COPA-COGECA have launched on the 25 March 2022, one year after the adoption of the EU Organic Action Plan, a call for applications for EU organic awards.
The awards would be managed by different institutions and stakeholders.
• The 3 awards in the domain of the locality-based public supply and demand side (Best organic region, city and bio-district) will be managed by the Committee of the Regions.
• The 3 awards in the domain of the downstream private sector organic production and distribution value chain (Best organic SME, food retailer and horeca) will be managed by the European Economic and Social Committee
• The two awards in the domain of organic agricultural production (Best organic agricultural producer (male and female)) will be managed by COPA-COGECA and IFOAM
Each partner will be responsible for the full process regarding each award: defining the eligibility, selection and award criteria, organizing the call for nominations, and selecting the 3 final awardee in each category. They would be awarded for the first time in 23 September 2022 during the EU organic Day and from then on be annual. The jury will be composed by 7 members, one for each partner organization.

The report of the European Parliament which should be adopted on 2 May stresses that Member States should engage local and regional authorities when adopting their national organic action plans to achieve the best possible synergies. The role of local and regional authorities in the implementation of the EU organic action plan is mentionned in 9 points/

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



 welcomes the EU action plan for organic farming and the ambitious EU-wide target set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy of 25% of agricultural land under organic farming by 2030;

 points out that LRAs are best placed to know and address the actual needs of local organic sectors; thus, to achieve the objectives of the new organic action plan, they should be closely involved in both the implementation and the evaluation of its actions;

 urges the European Commission to establish a platform for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the action plan, bringing together all stakeholders, particularly representatives of LRAs;

 calls on LRAs to get involved in the creation of Bio districts, supporting the development of bottom-up initiatives which can contribute to developing rural areas and increasing consumption of local organic products;

 stresses that in order to triple the EU organic land area by 2030, a three to five fold increase in CAP expenditure on organic farming is needed, meaning that up to 15% of CAP spending should be dedicated to the organic sector;

 recommends that the Commission thoroughly evaluate the national strategic plans submitted by the Member States in order to monitor that they will contribute to achieve the target of 25% of agricultural land devoted to organic farming by 2030;

 recommends that the Member States introduce a bonus-malus system as part of the eco-schemes of the new CAP and investigate how the "polluter pays" principle can be implemented;

 highlights the nutritional and environmental benefits in consuming organic food and calls to address the question of accessibility to the consumption of organic products, both in terms of affordability and availability of organic products at points of sale that are easily reachable by consumers, in order to allow all consumers to purchase organic food;

 proposes tweaking the EU organic logo by adding the words "EU organic" as well as the possibility of indicating the production region under the green leaf in order to increase consumer recognition;

 is pleased that the European Commission intends to organise a yearly EU-wide "Organic Day".

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Launch of the organic awards

Launch of the organic awards

 
18 Feb
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