News
31/10/2024
Fairness & transparency
EU Agri-food Chain Observatory meets: Lack of agrifood data
On 15 October, the EU Agri-food Chain Observatory met for the second time in Brussels and online. Launched this summer,…
LiveSeeding partners discuss project activities on organic seeds & breeding
From 17-20 September, the LiveSeeding project discussed organic heterogenous materials and variety development and business models. During its third general…
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 –…
The EU has continent-wide Nature Restoration Law
Today, the Nature Restoration Law entered into force. The law’s objective is the long-term recovery of nature in the EU’s…
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…
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…
Political Hotspot June 2024
Ongoing farmers’ protests highlight the need to address concerns about unfair pricing and competition in European agriculture. The objectives laid…
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…
08/05/2024
Fairness & transparency
Commission's proposed measures on unfair trading practices
In April 2024, the European Commission unveiled its non-paper Position of farmers in the food supply chain: next steps. In…
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…
Organic movement meets Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
On 26 April, IFOAM Organics Europe met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a discussion on the…
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…
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…
Entrepreneurship in the organic seeds and breeding sector
Are you an organic farmers or SME managers who is involved in: Join the webinar “Entrepreneurship in the organic seeds…
New digital tool for breeders, seed producers & traders
LiveSeeding is an EU-funded project promoting growth of organic seed and plant breeding to transition to more sustainable food systems.…
05/12/2023
Seeds
Parliamentary committees have started work on proposed Plant Reproductive Material regulation
The AGRI and ENVI parliamentary committees have started their work on the proposed Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) regulation, a file…
Agreement on nature restoration law: Important signal to transform farming
Negotiators from the European Parliament and Council reached a final agreement on the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). As European organic…
Celebrating life – a few highlights from th September 2023 Newsletter!
Recently we issued the last edition of our newsletter. Wondering why it’s interesting for you? We have prepared a quick…
Six-fold increase in organic seeds needed in the next ten years in Europe – 2nd European Organic Seed Policy Conference shows pathways to make organic seeds a reality
The Spanish Presidency of the European Union put a spotlight on rural areas and agricultural resilience during a High-level Rural…
Registrations open for the Organic Seed Policy Conference to be held in Poland
In the context of the LiveSeeding project, where IFOAM Organics Europe is a partner, a public Organic Seed Policy Conference…
New video on organic plant health care & updates on the SUR
We are happy to announce that we just published a new video on the organic approach to plant health care…
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…
Early feedback 2023 promotion policies reveal potential decrease in funding for organic products
The Commission’s decision to ringfence budget for organic products within the promotion policies was welcomed by the organic sector as…
New position paper on nutrition labelling
IFOAM Organics Europe published its new position paper on “Nutrition labelling & Nutri-Score”. This publication comes at a time of…
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.…
28/07/2022
EU Green Deal
Situation in the Ukrainian organic sector as of July 2022
This is a press release of Organic Initiative on the situation in the Ukrainian organic sector after 5 months of…
Welcome note May 2022 Newsletter
Dear readers, I would like to thank you for the enthusiasm and the support you have given IFOAM Organics Europe…
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…
Mainstreaming organic plant breeding – celebrating 20 years of organic plant breeders
‘How to make organic plant breeding mainstream’ – was the guiding question of the 20th anniversary event of the organic…
Over 1 million signatures demanding a restoration of biodiversity & support for farmers
Across Europe, more than 1 million citizens are calling for a reduction of 80% in the use of synthetic pesticides…
The future of organic food: Ten take-aways of the Organic Food Conference 2021
Our Organic Food Conference 2021 was a success, and we are happy to share the ten key take-aways. The European…
LIVESEED – Organic seed breeding at the Organic World Congress
The LIVESEED project, which IFOAM Organics Europe co-cordinates, is contributing to the Organic World Congress (OWC) with a colourful program.…
Boosting organic seed & breeding - Policy and stakeholder recommendations
As the LIVESEED project is coming to its end, it has released a synthesis of all its results and recommendations.…
Welcome note June 2021 newsletter
Dear readers, I am glad to tell you that IFOAM Organics Europe organised another successful digital edition of our European…
24/06/2021
Seeds
Commission opens public consultation on the review of the seed legislation
The Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) is reviewing the Union’s options to update the existing…
Sustainable food systems innovators, read FAO’s handbook!
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the…
03/05/2021
Seeds
EU Commission presents options to review the common seed legislation
Following a request from Member States in 2019, the Commission has published a study on the options to update the…
Towards a new framework for EU soils?
Soil is a non-renewable resource key to all growing and living on it. Part of the EU Biodiversity strategy for…
LIVESEED webinar for Members of the European Parliament & their staff - 30 March, online
On 30 March, LIVESEED invited Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their staff to present them the outcomes of…
European Commission’s Soil Strategy
Healthy soils are essential to meet climate and biodiversity goals set by the European Green Deal. As part of the…
[Exclusive for members] Let's discuss organic hot topics
As a follow-up of the thematic sessions hosted during BIOFACH, we are bringing our members live sessions during which they…
23/03/2021
Seeds
Secondary legislation on ‘Organic Heterogenous Material’ finalized
The secondary legislation on Organic Heterogenous Material (OHM) is in the process of being finalized and soon to be published…
New router database connects Member States’ organic seed databases
A long-awaited solution for seed suppliers, European organic farmers, and national authorities arrived. The new router database will increase the…
EUCARPIA-LIVESEED Conference - Breeding and seed sector innovations for organic food systems - 8-10 March 2021, online
A conference organised by Latvian LIVESEED partner AREI to present recent scientific results in organic plant breeding took place on…
01/03/2021
Fairness & transparency
Two months left to transpose the EU Unfair Trading Practices Directive
Only two months are left before the deadline for EU Member States to transpose the 2019 EU rules on Unfair…
Coming soon: EU router database for organic seed
The launch of the EU router database’s for organic seed is approaching! This database will : Simplify access to international…