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…

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…

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:…

Biodiversity management in organic greenhouses – Webinar available

In the frame of in the IPMWORKS project, we hosted a webinar on greenhouses and biodiversity – the last one…

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…

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…

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
Labelling

ECOSCORE: organic farming organisations reach an agreement ending legal procedures with ADEME, YUKA and its partners [EN+FR versions]

[French version below] BRUSSELS, PARIS, 4 JUNE 2024 – “In January 2023, the European federation of organic agriculture (IFOAM ORGANICS…

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…

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…

Nature restoration in jeopardy – Member States’ Environment Ministers endanger another EU law

After reaching a trilogue agreement on the Nature Restoration Law last November, adoption of a piece of European Union legislation…

Organics Europe's stance on Member State's efforts to delay anti-deforestation law (EUDR)

Some EU Member States, spearheaded by Austria and endorsed by Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden, are trying to weaken…

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…

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…
22/12/2022
Biodiversity

What the Global Biodiversity Framework means for agriculture

Two years later than initially planned, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, world leaders adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).…

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!…

Agreement on new deforestation law

EU consumption is responsible for around 10% of global deforestation. In the beginning of December, the Council and European Parliament…

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…

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…

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.…

Sustainability labelling for food: one day to understand all about it

The European Commission is expected to reveal their proposal for a Regulation on Substantiating Green Claims based on the Product…
29/09/2022
Labelling

New position paper on sustainability labelling & the Planet-score

IFOAM Organics Europe published its new position paper on “Sustainability labelling & the Planet-score”. Political context This position paper comes…

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…
14/09/2022
Biodiversity

European Parliament adopts position on deforestation-free products

The European Parliament has voted on its position on the Commission proposal for a regulation on deforestation-free products. On 13…

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…
24/06/2022
Labelling

Sustainability labelling & the PEF – Closed event in the European Parliament

Green Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Benoît Biteau, Claude Gruffat and Michèle Rivasi held an invitation-only event in the…

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…

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…
 
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