Ahead of the European Parliament’s committee vote on Thursday 31 March, MEP Éric Andrieu (S&D, France) regrets that the compromise amendments on the organic farming action plan do not mention the achievement of the target of 25% organic land in the EU by 2030 (see EUROPE 12921/14).
“The text contains some interesting advances, but I note the worrying desire of conservative elected representatives to erase the symbolic figure of 25% of organic land by 2030. There is only talk of the objective of increasing the area used for organic farming, which does not really commit us and is severely lacking in ambition”, worries Éric Andrieu.
The compromise between the groups refers to a “balanced development” of organic areas, depending on the market’s ability to absorb organic production.
One of the compromise amendments also points out that the share of agricultural land used for organic farming varies considerably between Member States and that this should be “taken into account when developing policies and instruments aimed at enhancing organic production”.
In addition, MEPs will call for more support for organic production in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): “Specific support for the organic sector represents 1.8% of CAP funds for 8.5% of the European surface area, which is a problem”, says Mr Andrieu.
Link to the compromise amendments to be voted on Thursday: https://aeur.eu/f/114 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)