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 –…
16/09/2024
Plant health care
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…
Building the future of EU agrifood – Encouraging high-level statements at congress’ first day
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2024 – Following the Strategic Dialogue for the future of EU agriculture’s recommendations, many agrifood stakeholders,…
European food industry loud and clear about rigorous labelling of new genomic techniques (NGTs)
376 food businesses from 16 Member States, signed Food Industry for Freedom of Choice, a letter calling for rigorous labelling…
02/09/2024
Food policy
Does organic still have a ring-fenced budget in the EU promotion policy?
The short answer: yes, even though it has been reduced, for SIMPLE projects. No MULTI projects will be funded in…
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:…
Challenges and opportunities facing organic & how policies can be part of the solution
Ahead of the EU elections, our Director, Eduardo Cuoco was interviewed about the current challenges organic faces. In two pieces…
Working together to enable farmers as agile entrepreneurs – European Biostimulants’ summit
IFOAM Organics Europe’s Director Eduardo Cuoco spoke at a session Supporting farmers in times of turbulence at the European Biostimulants…
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…
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…
Positive steps for EU’s resilience in Council decisions on nature restoration, soil monitoring law & green claims
On 17 June, European legislation on soil, nature, and environmental labelling took a few steps forward as the Council of…
Political Hotspot June 2024
Ongoing farmers’ protests highlight the need to address concerns about unfair pricing and competition in European agriculture. The objectives laid…
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…
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…
NGOs call for climate action & fair agrifood systems – 31 May; 1 June & throughout October
On 31 May, the NGOs who are part of the Good Food Good Farming coalition gathered in Brussels for its…
31/05/2024
Plant health care
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…
16/05/2024
Food policy
Civil Dialogue Groups (CDG) meetings: Report on wine, 14 May
IFOAM Organics Europe’s office staff, our members and experts regularly advise and discuss policy options with the Commission and other…
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…
26/04/2024
Plant health care
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…
New members-only sessions: (mis)use of regenerative & positioning organic to various political audiences
We are thrilled to announce new sessions in our member-exclusive webinar series ‘Let’s Discuss Organic’. On 26 April we will…
05/04/2024
Food policy
How school canteens can support a healthy, just, and sustainable European food system
On 12 March, three inspiring speakers showed how school canteens can change and integrate sustainability criteria –in urban, rural and…
04/04/2024
Food policy
Only two more months to apply for EU funds to promote organic food & farming
Are you a trade or inter-trade organisation in an EU country? Are you working with or promoting organic products? You…
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…
Parliament’s vote on Green Claims Directive: IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes efforts to curb greenwashing and the acknowledgement of specific environmental assessment needs for agri-food
BRUSSELS, 12 MARCH 2024 – IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes today’s plenary vote on the directive on green claims. This directive…
Green claims: organic movement applauds renewed recognition of PEF's shortcomings for agrifood
BRUSSELS, 14 FEBRUARY 2024 – IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes today’s vote on green claims as it underscores the limitations of…
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…
February 2024 Newsletter - Multilingual Edition
Read this Special Newsletter in BG, CZ, DA , DE, ES, EN, FR, HU, IT, LT, NL, PL, PT, RO, UA Dear reader,Welcome to 2024! As we usher in the new year and an EU…
Green Claims: Organics Europe highlights Product Environmental Footprint method's shortcomings for agri-food
BRUSSELS, 23 JANUARY 2024 – As compromise amendment negotiations on the Green Claims Directive proposal are taking place within the…
23/12/2022
Food policy
Large share of EU funds available to promote sustainable agriculture in 2023
On 16 December 2022, the European Commission has adopted the 2023 Annual Work Programme on the promotion of agricultural products.…
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…
16/12/2022
Plant health care
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!…
06/12/2022
Plant health care
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…
Green claims: better methodologies to assess environmental performance of food & textiles products
BRUSSELS, 29 NOVEMBER 2022 – IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes news about the Commission’s decision to postpone the publication of the…
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…
24/11/2022
Plant health care
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…
09/11/2022
Plant health care
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…
03/11/2022
Plant health care
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…
Sustainability labels, ”sustainable or not? That’s the question!”
In the current food environment, labels are crucial to provide consumers with information to help them make the sustainable choice.…
29/09/2022
Food policy
Political Hotspot - September 2022
September is the month of the first informal meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture in Prague, Czech Republic. The Czech…
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…
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.…
28/06/2022
Plant health care
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…