News

 

IFOAM Organics Europe and European Citizens' Initiative condemn "fake pesticide reduction"

Methodologies are a political choice: Harmonised Risk-Indicator (HRI-1) misleads EU citizens and harms organic agriculture BRUSSELS/VIENNA, 30 SEPTEMBER 2024 –…

Advisory services & advisors, join our OrganicAdviceNetwork

We invite agricultural and rural advisory services and advisors with interest and competences in organic agriculture to join the OrganicAdviceNetwork.…

Task force on biocontrol starts its work

IFOAM Organics Europe’s new Task Force on Biocontrol will take up its work in September. The group will discuss this…

Driving organic growth? OrganicTargets4EU analysis of CAP Strategic Plans

The OrganicTargets4EU project analysed current organic agricultural and aquaculture policies, revealing increased support for organic agriculture following legislative initiatives by…

EU Organic Regulation updates: FAQ on organic rules & second list of compliant control bodies

The Commission has updated its Frequently asked questions on organic rules with new topics. It now also clarifies questions on:…

Welcome back, Ms von der Leyen. EU organic looks forward to continue transforming our rural areas & food systems

BRUSSELS, 18 JULY 2024 – The European organic movement congratulates Ursula von der Leyen on her re-election as President of…

CDG meeting on organic farming: Agroforestry, plant protection & compliance

Organic stakeholders exchanged with the Commission on synergies between agroforestry and organic, plant protection products and the regulatory switch from…
04/07/2024
Events Seeds

Fruitful discussion during LiveSeeding online webinar on organic seed and planting material databases

On 4 July 2024, the LiveSeeding project organised a learning exchange on organic seed databases, using examples from Spain and…

Open webinar on biodiversity management in organic greenhouses

We are organising a series of free and open webinars relevant to organic farming as part of our involvement in…
04/06/2024
GMOs Seeds

New genomic techniques, what comes up? 

Despite significant political pressure to reach an agreement among the EU institutions before the European elections in June 2024, the…

Join our network of advisory services and advisors – OrganicAdviceNetwork 

External advisory services and advisors with organic competences or an interest in organic are invited to join the OrganicAdviceNetwork project’s…

Policies should promote uptake of biocontrol

The European organic movement and international biocontrol manufacturers call on the European Commission to ensure faster registration and uptake of…

Starting the first European network of organic advisors

Last April, 18 European project partners of the OrganicAdviceNetwork project met for three days planning the first steps to set-up…

Organic Farm Knowledge: Free, online knowledge exchange for organic food & farming

Organic and agroecological farming systems are knowledge-intensive and rely on a two-way approach. Research priorities are based on farmers’ needs…
02/05/2024
Seeds

Plant Reproductive Material Regulation legislation could advance organic plant breeding

On 24 April, the European Parliament voted on the Plant Reproductive Material Regulation (PRM) legislation. Members of the European Parliament…

IBMA and IFOAM Organics Europe call for policies to promote the uptake of biocontrol

IFOAM Organics Europe and the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association (IBMA) call for policies to promote the uptake of safe, environmentally…
24/04/2024
Seeds

EU Parliament advances organic plant breeding with new PRM legislation vote

BRUSSELS, 24 APRIL 2024 – Today’s vote on the Plant Reproductive Material Regulation (PRM) legislation could contribute to a balanced regulation…

OrganicTargets4EU: Unlocking the potential of AKIS for the organic sector

The EU Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy set the ambitious target of reaching 25% of agricultural land…

Proposal integrated Plant Reproductive Material Regulation improves after Parliament’s inputs

The EU is revising legislation on plant reproductive material, such as seeds, cuttings, trees, roots, tubers, and clones. Currently, rules…
19/03/2024
Seeds

IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes AGRI Committee vote on Plant Reproductive Material

BRUSSELS, 19 MARCH 2024 – The European organic movement considers today’s vote on the Plant Reproductive Material Regulation (PRM) legislation an…

OrganicAdviceNetwork project, the first Europe-wide network for organic advisors, starting soon!

As the EU Farm-to-Fork Strategy aims to achieve 25% of organic farmland in the EU by 2030, new organic farmers…

Von der Leyen yields to farmer’s groups demands to shelve the Sustainable Use of Pesticide Regulation proposal

This week the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen announced in a concession to farmers, after weeks of protests…

Member States call for ‘new impact assessment’ on the Pesticides Regulation (SUR), delaying strict EU pesticide regulation

On 19 December, Member States1 voted in favour of requesting complementary data to the existing impact assessment the Commission carried…

EU pesticides regulation (SUR) under attacks from Member States & industry

The EU Pesticide Reduction proposal SUR has been under attack by lobbyists. They developed a strategy to delay and possibly…

Promoting recycled fertilizers in Europe: IFOAM Organics Europe position paper & outcomes policy workshop on closing the nutrients’ cycle

On 28 February, IFOAM Organics Europe has published a new position paper on the Commission’s Integrated Nutrients Management Action Plan…

November newsletter: SUR, GMO-free event, and more!

Two weeks ago, we published our November newsletter and it’s rich in updates and information on the hottest organic topics!…

Bold pesticide reduction plan faces attack on Saturday

BRUSSELS, 6 DECEMBER 2022 – EU plans to cut pesticide use and risk by half and protect the most sensitive…

Press conference: EU pesticide reduction under fierce attack

In June 2022, the EU Commission presented a legislative proposal on the “sustainable use of plant protection products” (SUR), which…

Political Hotspot - November 2022

The legislative process of revising the EU’s pesticide legislation, the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR), is full of hurdles,…

Welcome note November 2022

Dear reader,  I am happy to welcome you to this year’s last edition of our newsletter. I am proud to…

1 million EU citizens knock on EU’s door: No synthetic pesticides to save bees & farmers

Over 1 million EU citizens are asking to restore nature, provide healthy food, healthy soil and clean water. On Friday 25…

‘Way forward in organic plant health care strategies’ Conference, 17-18 November 2022, online

On 17 & 18 November, IFOAM Organics Europe, BÖLW and JKI Institüte organised an online conference on the ‘Way forward…

Commission's fertiliser communication, short term fixes, no long-term solutions

In its Communication on ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers, the EU Commission postpones necessary changes to achieve more sustainable food systems by…

Organic movement asks for higher environmental ambition in the upcoming Fertiliser Communication & digitalization of pesticide use data in SAIO’s implementing act 

Upcoming Fertilizers Communication of the Commission  On 24 October, we co-signed a joint letter with 9 NGOs calling on the…

Updates on pesticides and recycled nutrients: Regulation (SUR), statistics and data

IFOAM Organics Europe welcomed the Commission’s proposal on the revision of the Sustainable Use of pesticides Regulation (SUR). It could…

Watch the EU Organic Awards ceremony, tomorrow 23/9, 10:00

Tomorrow, Friday 23 September, there will be the second edition of the EU Organic Day, established by the European Commission…
29/07/2022
Seeds

European Parliamentarians, NGOs and organic sector discuss seed marketing rules

Before the European Parliament’s summer break, the political process reviewing seed marketing rules kickstarted with an event on 22 June.…

Got pesticides in your body? It’s your last chance to find out

Pesticides threaten our food and farming systems.They kill pollinators like bees, reduce the quality of soils, endanger the health of…

Contribute to the Commission’s consultation on the future EU integrated nutrient management action plan (INMAP)

The Commission is preparing an Integrated Nutrient Management Action Plan (INMAP) as announced in the EU Biodiversity and Farm to…

Environmental NGOs and organic movement call on Commission to develop a new indicator to measure progress towards the Farm to Fork pesticide reduction target

BRUSSELS, 9 JUNE 2022 – The organisers of the European Citizens’ Initiative Save Bees and Farmers (signed by 1.2 million…

Do you have pesticides in your body? Join the pesticide check-up and find out

Pesticides are a serious threat to our food and farming systems. On the field, they kill pollinators like bees and…

Agreement on agricultural statistics (SAIO)

On Thursday 2 June, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the new EU…

Alternatives to contentious input in organic - Heritage of RELACS project

The RELACS project developed and researched alternatives to contentious inputs in organic crop production – copper and mineral oils, nutrient…

Wrapping up the RELACS project: Policy roadmaps, videos & other publications

The RELACS project, which aims at finding alternatives to contentious inputs in organic farming, came to an end on 29…

Sustainable nutrient management: our contribution to the European Commission’s public consultation

In Europe, surplus nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the environment are already exceeding safe planetary boundaries – for N…
24/03/2022
Seeds

New rules vegetative plant reproductive material for organic production

While the new EU Organic Regulation officially entered into force on 1 January of this year, not all details were…

Policy instruments & voluntary initiatives for reducing contentious inputs in organic farming

The RELACS project released a new scientific paper by Varga et al., 2022, analysing existing policy instruments and voluntary initiatives in…

Commission delays proposal for Regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides

On 23 March, the European Commission was supposed to publish a proposal for a Regulation on the Sustainable Use of…

Expert on recycled fertilisers? Join our Task Force on Recycled Fertilisers

IFOAM Organics Europe’s Board created a Task Force on Recycled Fertilisers. This decision comes in the context of the “Integrated…

Soil Health Law: Organic movement’s contribution to public consultation

60-70% of soils in the EU are not healthy and the EU still lacks a comprehensive soil protection policy. In…
 
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