On Monday 19 July, the EU agriculture ministers adopted conclusions (https://bit.ly/3kwHvnE ) on the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production, which aims to reach the target of 25% of EU agricultural land under organic farming by 2030, in line with the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy.
Overall, the ministers supported the measures suggested by the European Commission in this Action Plan.
Several delegations insisted on a balanced development between supply and demand for organic products.
Several ministers, including those from Greece and Germany, stressed the ambitious nature of the target of 25% of organic land by 2030. Austria recalled that it had already reached a level of 26% and stressed that much more needed to be done to promote organic products and to provide incentives to switch to organic production.
The French Minister, Julien Denormandie, said that France had set aside €1.7 billion in the context of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to help farmers convert to organic farming.
Several countries insisted on the need to take into account the national action plans that exist in some Member States (France, Germany, Luxembourg...). Ireland supported the idea of having an organic ambassador in each Member State.
The different starting points of the EU countries will have to be taken into account, insisted several ministers and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski. He also indicated the need to create synergies with other policies than the CAP, such as the EU’s Economic Recovery Plan.
The new organic farming regulation will come into force in 2022. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)