EU Member States are finalising conclusions on the action plan for the development of organic production, presented by the European Commission in April. The Ministers of Agriculture are expected to adopt the conclusions on this issue on 19 July.
Overall, the EU-27 support the Commission’s proposals, but several Member States insist that measures must be voluntary. They also believe that the target of 25% of European agricultural land devoted to organic farming by 2030 should be set at EU level (and not at Member State level), taking into account the different starting points of the countries.
On the occasion of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on 5 July, some delegations also insisted on the importance of strengthening the demand for organic products, and not only the supply. The Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council is currently finalising the draft conclusions.
The draft text stresses that it will be necessary to take into account the specificities and different starting points of the Member States in the national strategy plans on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and in the national action plans on organic farming. The success of this action plan “will depend on the involvement of all stakeholders, including the public sector at all levels of governance (EU, Member States, regions, cities) and the entire private sector, all along the value chain”, say the Member States. They therefore stress the importance of ensuring “the balanced development of demand and supply, in order to ensure the future profitability of the organic food market in the EU”. Finally, they note the launch of discussions with major trading partners to renegotiate equivalence agreements for organic farming.
Promoting European production. The EU’s agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) published their opinion on this action plan on 1 July. With regard to measures to stimulate demand and ensure consumer confidence, Copa-Cogeca recalls that the organic sector will need to be supported by promotion policy. However, the budget for promotional action must correspond to the reality of market evolution and, above all, it must “support the development of European products, and not benefit non-European production”.
Copa-Cogeca highlights the lack of European plant proteins for livestock feed. In 2019, oilcake imports for the EU sector increased by 13% and soybean imports by 25%. 80% of all organic oilcake imported into the EU comes from China. “There is a clear and strong need to increase the production of European organic protein feed, if we are to support the conversion of the conventional livestock sector to organic”, warns Copa-Cogeca. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)