The award-winning initiatives come from cities and regions in Austria, France and Italy.
The President of the
European Committee of the Regions
, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, congratulated the winners saying:
"
The European Union is made of people that every day make it a better
place. It is inspiring to see the winners of the EU Organic Awards as
they show us the path towards a more sustainable Europe. Regions and
cities are key drivers of organic production across the EU and they
will continue to support these inspiring initiatives for a better
future
."
Ulrika Landergren
(SE/Renew Europe), Chair of the CoR's
commission for Natural Resources
, stressed that
"
local and regional authorities have a key role to play in developing
organic production in their regions, and are able to drive relocation
and structuring processes as part of a solidarity-based, social
economy. There are several levers that they can use upstream, such as
land policy promoting the setting up of new farms and encouraging
farmers to switch to organic farming, and downstream by creating local
markets and ensuring that those who take up organic farming have an
outlet for their products.
"
The EU Organic Awards aim to promote different actors throughout the
organic value chain who have developed an excellent, innovative,
sustainable and inspiring project, producing real added value for organic
production and consumption. The awards comprise seven different categories,
the winners
of which were announced during a special ceremony hosted by the EU
Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.
The winners of the three categories dedicated to local and regional
authorities and bio-districts, are:
Occitanie, France
– for its comprehensive approach within the frame of the region’s Green
Deal and its Organic Plan, involving an inclusive regional governance and
the complete value chain from production to consumption.
Gemeinde Seeham am Obertrumer See, Salzburg, Austria
– with 80% organic farming, organic local supply and organic producers,
Seeham strengthens regional agriculture, secures and creates jobs and
ensures a healthy lifestyle for its inhabitants.
-
Best organic bio-district
Associazione Bio-Distretto Cilento, Campania, Italy –
as a pioneer and a model for other bio-districts, at
regional, national or international level.
The full list of winners and their video presentations are available
here.
Further information:
Increases in organic farming, aquaculture and food contribute greatly to
reductions in the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and
anti-microbials and have positive effects on our climate, the environment,
biodiversity and animal welfare. That is why organic production has been
identified as playing a key role in the achievement of the objectives of
the
European Green Deal
, the
Farm to Farm to Fork strategy
and the
Biodiversity strategy
. For this reason, the Commission has defined a target of 25% of EU
agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant increase
in organic aquaculture, which is
strongly supported
by the CoR.
The Commission has adopted the
Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production
in March 2021, which includes the launch of the annual awards. They aim to
reward the best and most innovative organic actors, contributing to the
reduction of agriculture’s impact on the environment and climate. Last year
the CoR adopted its
opinion
on the EU Action Plan for organic farming.
Organic production is increasing in the EU. In 2019, 8.5% of EU
agricultural land was under organic farming. This equalled 13.8 million
hectares, up from 9.5 million hectares in 2012, a 45.8% increase. The
countries accounting for most of the EU agricultural land under organic
farming were Spain (2.4 billion hectares, 17.4% of the EU total), France
(2.2 billion hectares, 16.2% of the EU total), Italy (2.0 billion hectares,
14.5% of the total) and Germany (1.3 billion hectares, 9.4% of the EU
total) as per
Eurostat organic farming statistics
.
Contact:
Wioletta Wojewodzka
Tel.: +32 473 843 986
wioletta.wojewodzka@cor.europa.eu