EU organic awards

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, former CoR President (February 2022)

Local and regional authorities are working hard to promote the growth of the EU organic sector, for example through land policies that encourage the creation of new organic farms or the conversion of existing farms to organic production, or by creating local markets that encourage consumer demand for locally produced organic food as well as by facilitating the supply of local, organic products for hospitals, schools and other public services. The Award will make this work more visible and effective, spread the best experiences and help mobilise local communities to achieve a more sustainable, safe and resilient agri-food chain. We look forward to joining forces with the European Commission and all involved partners.

Presentation

The awards are the first example of EU-wide organic awards and are conceived as a follow-up to the Action Plan for the development of organic production, adopted by the Commission on 25 March 2021. This Action Plan takes the approach that, in order to stimulate organic production, consumer demand for organic products should grow. This requires, amongst others, increased public awareness of the characteristics and benefits of organic production. For this purpose, the Action Plan includes the launching of annual awards recognising excellence in the organic value chain. These awards will be awarded for the first time in 2022.

The CoR adopted an opinion on the EU organic action plan in December 2021 which support the action plan.

The CoR was invited to participate in the official celebration of the first EU Organic Day, attended by Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski on 23 September 2021, and is a co-organiser of the EU organic awards, with the responsibility of three awards.

The EU organic awards scheme comprises 7 categories and 8 awards. They acknowledge different actors along the organic value chain, that developed an excellent, innovative, sustainable and inspiring project producing real added value for organic production and consumption.

More information is to be found on the webpage EU organic awards and on social media using #EUOrganic.

About the CoR organic awards

The COR will reward actors from the downstream organic production and distribution value chain:

Best organic region
Best organic city
Best biodistrict

The submission of the application forms for the CoR awards will only be possible from 25 March 2022 till 15 June 2022, through the online application form available at Organic awards district, Organic awards region and Organic awards city.

No other application than the online one will be taken into account.

Edition 2022

The EU organic awards will be awarded for the first time in 2022!

The COR is proud to announce the finalists, by category, for the first ever EU Organic Awards, co-organised with the European Commission and other partners to reward excellence along the European organic value chain. The winners of each category will be announced on 23 September, EU Organic Day, during a special ceremony with EU commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.