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 –…

Organic living labs develop and test food security & resilience scenarios

Helping to create and support “living labs” (LLs) is an important strategy within EU research and innovation to promote the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

New faces and new projects in the Research & Innovation Unit 

A new year means new research and innovation (R&I) projects! Several new Horizon Europe projects in which IFOAM Organics Europe…

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…

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…
30/11/2022
Climate change

Commission proposal on the certification of carbon removals leaves crucial questions unanswered

BRUSSELS, 30 NOVEMBER 2022 – The Commission’s proposal on the certification of carbon removals touches on important aspects like the…

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…

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…
22/11/2022
Climate change

This was COP 27 for agriculture 

From 6-18 November the COP27 took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Like every year, our colleagues from IFOAM – Organics…

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…

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…

June newsletter: measuring pesticides, new GMOs, and more!

We just published our June newsletter and it’s rich in updates and information on the hottest organic topics! Not sure…

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…
23/06/2022
Food policy

Delving into public consultations: The sustainable food system framework initiative and the EU school scheme

July will be a hot month! In part because of deadlines to public consultations geared at transforming the European food…

They make it happen! Green public procurement in Copenhagen’s public kitchens

Organic contributes to promoting and delivering healthy and sustainable diets. This is part of our Vision 2030 set out and…
 
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