On Tuesday 3 May, the European Parliament voted in favour of increasing organic production, but did not include in its assessment of the organic action plan the objective of achieving 25% of agricultural land in the EU under organic farming by 2030.
The report by Simone Schmiedtbauer (EPP, Austria) on the action plan for organic production, which was adopted by a very large majority (611 votes in favour, 14 against and 5 abstentions), thus favours the development of organic production through market forces (see EUROPE 12943/8).
The target of 25% of agricultural land devoted to organic farming is included in the European Commission’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy.
A group of MEPs (from the S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups) tabled an amendment to retain the 25% target in the European Parliament report, but this was rejected in plenary. The other amendments put to the vote, on animal welfare, nutritional labelling and a ‘network of public actors’ involved in the introduction of organic products in public canteens, were also rejected by the Parliament.
In the debate the day before, Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy) recalled that food prices were currently rising across the EU and that many families were “unfortunately turning to cheaper food”. The positive market development in recent years for many organic products “risks collapsing”, he said. Similarly, the incentives for farmers to switch to organic products are also decreasing. “We must therefore ensure that this difficult moment does not become a long-term brake on the organic market”, Mr Dorfmann concluded.
Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain) recalled that over the last decade, organic production in the EU has increased by 66%, reaching 8.5% of the EU’s agricultural area. She felt that there was “a lot of inequality between some regions and others and between some countries and others”. For Ms Aguilera, organic development and growth must be “linked to the market-based approach”.
Setting a binding target at EU level requires a “significant increase in spending in the short term, which puts Member States with less advanced agriculture in a difficult situation”, stressed Zbigniew Kuźmiuk (ECR, Poland).
Anne Sander (EPP, France) defended the pragmatic approach in the report: “When setting targets for developing organic production, the most important thing is to ensure that there is a market for it. And it is clear in a number of member countries, including France, that there is a real problem with organic production, because the cost is higher”.
A non-binding target. Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski made it clear that the 25% target is not a target for farmers, nor is it a target that is directly binding on Member States. “We want to encourage this type of agriculture with incentives, with a good offer, but it is not compulsory”, he said at the end of the plenary debate.
Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) told the press that it would have been “important to set quantitative targets” for the development of organic farming.
Producing better. Claude Gruffat (Greens/EFA, France) said that, contrary to “the industrialists and financiers, I believe, like Commissioner Timmermans, that there is an urgent need to produce better, and certainly not to produce more, to ensure food sovereignty in Europe as well as in the world” (see EUROPE 12942/6). Hence the amendments tabled to ensure that the final text remains “faithful” to the objectives of the European Green Deal and the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy. These include the target of 25% organic by 2030, a target that was ultimately ignored in the final report. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)