On Thursday 23 September, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission launched the first ‘European Organic Day’.
In a joint declaration, the three EU institutions have made the day an annual event to be held on 23 September, as foreseen in the action plan for the development of organic production (see EUROPE 12686/21).
According to EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, the day will be an opportunity to raise awareness of organic production and to promote the key role it plays in the transition to sustainable food systems.
He recalled that the action plan aims to stimulate the production and consumption of organic products, in order to increase the agricultural area devoted to organic farming to 25% by 2030.
“There is no contradiction between organic production and production and productivity in general”, the Commissioner assured, answering questions from the press.
MEP Benoît Lutgen (EPP, Belgium) also called for not pitting the reality of organic farming against the need for production. “Both are possible”, he said.
Meanwhile, French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said on Thursday that the Commission’s plans to improve the quality of European food could lead to “non-sense in terms of sovereignty and an environmental non-sense”.
The scenarios outlined on the effects of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies highlight “significant environmental benefits, not fully quantified”, but also “a decline in European agricultural production”, the French Minister noted. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)