News
15/12/2021
Climate change
Sustainable Carbon Cycles: New EU Communication
On 15 December, the European Commission presented its Communication on ‘Sustainable Carbon Cycles’. On the one hand, the Communication addresses…
Parliament approves disappointing new CAP - Organic needs environmentally ambitious national CAP Strategic Plans
BRUSSELS, 23 November 2021 – Today, the European Parliament’s Plenary adopted the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (2023-2027) Regulation with…
EU releases soil strategy & plans legal initiative in 2023
On 17 November, the European Commission published the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 together with a proposal for a regulation…
Organic movement warns of insufficient ambition in CAP Strategic Plans
BRUSSELS, 18 November 2021 – Today, the organic food and farming movement published an evaluation of measures and budgets to support organic agriculture in Members States’ draft CAP Strategic Plans (CAP SPs). The analysis, based on organic farmers associations’ feedback…
15/11/2021
Climate change
COP26: Outcomes relevant to food, land & agriculture
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) took place from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in Glasgow. Even though…
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…
27/10/2021
Climate change
COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland
From 31 October to 12 November, the UN’s climate change conference (UNFCCC COP26) will take place in Glasgow, Scotland in…
08/10/2021
Climate change
EU organic movement’s reply to public consultation on carbon farming initiative
The European Commission invited stakeholders to provide input to a roadmap for the Commission’s initiative aimed at developing sustainable carbon…
Organic movement welcomes new EU Organic Day on 23 September
BRUSSELS, 23 SEPTEMBER – Today, the three EU institutions – European Parliament, Council of the European Union and European Commission…
Public consultation on carbon farming initiative roadmap & re-launch climate change task force
The European Commission has opened its public consultation on the roadmap for the initiative “Restoring sustainable carbon cycles” and feedback…
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.…
How can EU policies consider organic farming’s benefits for biodiversity?
IFOAM Organics Europe recently published a new report highlighting the contribution of organic farming to protecting Europe’s biodiversity. By setting…
New report highlights need for increased support to organic farming in future CAP plans to reach EU 25% target
BRUSSELS, 29 JUNE 2021 – A new report by IFOAM Organics Europe highlights how much of the national CAP budgets…
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…
Comics showing why industrial agriculture is broken
In May 2020, the EU released its Biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies as part of the European Green Deal.…
21/06/2021
Biodiversity
CAP
Climate change
EU Green Deal
Events
Farm to Fork
Food policy
Organic regulations
Ten take-aways of the European Organic Congress 2021 - 16-18 June, online, live from Lisbon
Following a successful edition of the hybrid European Organic Congress 2021, we are happy to share the ten key take-aways…
21/06/2021
Biodiversity
CAP
Climate change
EU Green Deal
Events
Farm to Fork
Food policy
Organic regulations
More than 660 discussed transitioning to more sustainable food & farming systems at European Organic Congress - 16-18 June, online, live from Lisbon
This year’s edition of our European Organic Congress took place online and live from Lisbon on 16-18 June 2021. More…
Getting food on the climate agenda - FoodSHIFT2030 webinar - 15 June 2021, online
Climate change policy debates fail to consider the interconnected nature of food systems and involve a wide range of actors.…
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…
IPBES and IPCC call to prioritize solutions benefiting both biodiversity and climate
On 10 June 2021, scientist and leading experts from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and…
For a just transition to align the EU food system with the Green Deal - 26 May 2021, online
French and European food systems need to be transformed to address health, environmental and social challenges. However, the current policy…
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…
Organic movement raises red flag on assumed benefits deregulating new genomic techniques
BRUSSELS, 29 APRIL 2021 – The organic food and farming movement criticises the Commission’s plan to work on a new…
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…
Civil society, farmers and business organizations: Vice-President Timmermans, don't deregulate GM crops & animals
BRUSSELS, 30 MARCH 2021 – Today, a large coalition of 162 civil society, farmers and business organisations calls on Vice…
IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes new Organic Action Plan
BRUSSELS, 25 MARCH 2021 – The organic food and farming movement welcomes today’s publication of the European Organic Action Plan…
[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…
09/02/2021
Climate change
Read EIP-AGRI’s brochure on climate-smart agriculture and learn about solutions for resilient farming and forestry
Farming significantly contributes to climate change with agriculture being responsible for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the European…
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…
“Wir haben es satt!” alliance : Use the election year to vote out an agricultural policy that is harmful to farmers, animals and the environment
This press release was first published by Wir Haben Es Satt! Agriculture change alliance (“We are fed up!”) demands sustainable…
First online edition of Organic Innovation Days was a success! 24-25 November, online
On 24-25 November 2020, TP Organics, the European Technology Platform for Organic Food and Farming, held its annual Organic Innovation…
25/11/2020
Seeds
Organic breeders, share your pictures - Use #BreedingABrightFuture on Twitter
#BreedingABrightFuture is LIVESEED’s social media campaign, aiming at raising awareness about the beauty and benefits of organic plant breeding to…
1 million citizens are calling on the Commission: Our forests are in danger, act now!
One million people demand EU law to stop deforestation More than a million people have so far called for a…
12/11/2020
Seeds
Last week to register for the Organic Innovation Days 2020 – Brought to you by TP Organics and LIVESEED - 24-25 November 2020, online
Interested in organic research & innovation to transform food & farming? Interested in organic seed & plant breeding? This is…
Welcome note October 2020 newsletter
Dear readers, As Board Vice President of IFOAM Organics Europe and prospective member of the TP Organics Steering Committee, it…
28/10/2020
Seeds
LIVESEED: Tools and incentives for the value chain involved in organic seed
According to Article 48 of Regulation EC No 834/2007, the establishment of a national database to list all offered organic seed and…
CAP ‘reform’: Parliament's small steps not good enough for a green transformation of food and farming
BRUSSELS, 23 OCTOBER 2020 – This week, Members of the European Parliament voted on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and Agriculture Ministers reached an…
Organic breeders, share your pictures – Use #BreedingABrightFuture on Twitter
#BreedingABrightFuture is LIVESEED’s social media campaign, aiming at raising awareness about the beauty and benefits of organic plant breeding to…
Organic Movement calls on MEPs to align the CAP with the Green Deal ambitions
IFOAM Organics Europe has sent a press release to all Members of the European Parliament as they are voting on…
Organic Innovation Days – register now! 24-25 November, online
You can now register for the Organic Innovation Days 2020, the only EU event on research & innovation for organic,…
Save the date: Organic Innovation Days 2020: A cooperation of TP Organics & LIVESEED, 24-25 November 2020, online
For this year’s Organic Innovation Days, TP Organics is partnering with the LIVESEED project, coordinated by IFOAM Organics Europe. Bringing…
15/09/2020
Seeds
LIVESEED workshop on vegetative propagating material – Why organic vegetative material has a long way to go compared to organic seeds
Vegetative propagation material such as seed potatoes, rootstocks and cuttings were in the spotlight of a LIVESEED workshop on 10…
Help protecting our forests by demanding deforestation free supply-chains – Together4Forests
Forests and other ecosystems are under pressure worldwide: A total of 13 million hectares are deforested each year and almost…
First open source detection test for a gene-edited GM crop
This press release was first published by Greenpeace EU Brussels, 07 SEPTEMBER 2020 – Greenpeace, together with other non-governmental organisations,…
IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes public consultation on new EU Organic Action Plan and additional time to finalize new organic rules
BRUSSELS, 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 – The organic food and farming movement welcomes the announcement today by the Commission that the…