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 –…
EU Organic Awards recognise excellence, as Court report stresses need for long-term vision for organic & stronger CAP
BRUSSELS, 23 SEPTEMBER 2024 – Today, on EU Organic Day, Europe celebrates its organic sector and operators. Locally and nationally,…
Welcome Note September 2024
Welcome to our post-summer newsletter. As summer turns into autumn, we embrace the productive months ahead and use this newsletter…
These organic practitioners are an inspiration for food and farming
A farmer creating new organic varieties to combat biodiversity loss, a city setting up food production sites where people from…
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…
24 finalists highlight excellent examples of EU organic from field to fork
On 19 July, the EU Commission revealed the finalists of the 2024 EU Organic Awards, the EU-wide yearly initiative recognising organic…
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…
Welcome Note June 2024
Dear reader, Welcome to our last newsletter edition before the EU elections and summer break. In only a few days…
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…
10 more days for organic excellence to apply to the EU Organic Awards - 12 May!
Applications for the third edition of the EU Organic Awards will close next week Sunday on 12 May 2024. Does one immediately…
Get inspired by excellent examples carrying out organic’s values
In recent years, the European Union has developed a long-term strategy to become climate neutral: the EU Green Deal. Among…
Apply to be the next winner of the European Organic Awards 2024!
Applications for the third edition of the EU Organic Awards will close on 12 May 2024. If you know of…
IFOAM Organics Europe regrets a CAP simplification without vision
BRUSSELS, 15 MARCH 2024 – IFOAM Organics Europe warns that the CAP simplification proposal presented today by the Commission is…
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…
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…
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…
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…
All CAP Strategic Plans approved, just like Parliament’s report on long-term vision for rural areas
On 13 December, the European Commission approved the last national Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) Strategic Plan and the European Parliament…
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…
21/11/2022
Farm to Fork
Put sustainable school meals on the EU agenda - Sign the petition
The Buy Better Food Campaign has initiated an EU-wide petition for ‘A healthy meal for every child in every EU…
10/11/2022
Textiles
NGOs demand adequate methodologies in upcoming legal proposal on green claims– also for apparel & footwear
The European Commission’s is working on an upcoming legislative proposal to help justify (‘substantiate’) green claims and prevent greenwashing. However,…
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…
Watch the EU Organic Awards ceremony, tomorrow 23/9, 10:00
Tomorrow, Friday 23 September, there will be the second edition of the EU Organic Day, established by the European Commission…
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…
Transformation scenarios for boosting organic farming & organic - OrganicTargets4EU project starts
The Horizon Europe project OrganicTargets4EU officially started on 1 September 2022. Coordinated by IFOAM Organics Europe, the project aims to…
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…
25/08/2022
Textiles
New position paper on organic textiles in a context of strong political momentum
IFOAM Organics Europe published its revised position paper Organic textiles – Protecting the credibility of the organic label. The publication…
Political hotspot June 2022 Newsletter
On 22 June, the European Commission published two important legislative proposals related to the implementation of the Farm to Fork…
Review of events
We were thrilled, after two years of digital events, to meet again at the 2022 European Organic Congress. Below you find…
24/06/2022
Textiles
The importance of an organic label for textiles
What is the issue with textiles?The organic textile market is rapidly growing and the textile industry may be victim 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…
22/06/2022
Farm to Fork
Welcoming the national Organic Ambassadors to Brussels, 21 June
On June 21, the European Commission hosted a meeting of the recently created EU network of national Organic Ambassadors. These…
Shifting school meals and schools for increased resilience
Schools are the place where many young people learn about healthy diets and a sustainable food culture if this can…
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…
16/05/2022
Textiles
EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles: Shortcomings and promises
On 30 March, the European Commission published its strategy for sustainable and circular textiles. This strategy is part of the…
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…
EU Parliament AGRI Committee supports organic farming in vote on Organic Action Plan report
BRUSSELS, 31 MARCH 2022 – IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes ComAGRI’s vote on the Parliament’s Organic Action Plan (OAP) report. AGRI…
EU Parliament saves Farm to Fork’s integrity but concedes on Biodiversity
BRUSSELS, 24 MARCH 2022 – IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes the European Parliament’s support to the Farm to Fork Strategy as…
ClieNFarms project has started
Making farms climate-neutral is the aim of the ClieNFarms projects that started last January. The project will set up 20…
New project wants to make school meals part of transition to sustainable diet
The EU-funded “SchoolFood4Change” (SF4C) project aims to shift school meals and schools into a new paradigm of systemic change towards…
The 7 key policy recommendations on sustainable food public procurement
The Food Policy Coalition’s policy recommendations on food procurement support procurement as a tool that contributes to the systemic transformation…
Statement of solidarity with Ukraine
The European organic movement expresses its solidarity with all people in Ukraine, with all those, including in Russia, who have…
Sustainability labelling: Product Environmental Footprint not suitable for agri-food products
Sustainability labelling has to be one of the major food-related political topics of 2022. As the think tank IDDRI outlines…
Policy brief outlining key points for a “Carbon Farming Scheme”
In December 2021, the European Commission presented its Communication on ‘Sustainable Carbon Cycles’, which addresses how to increase carbon sequestration…
Trialogues on Regulation on Statistics on Agricultural Inputs and Outputs to start
On 10 December, the Council of the EU approved its mandate for negotiations on the Regulation on Statistics on Agricultural…
Revised Directive for a Sustainable Use of pesticides expected on 23 March
The indicative calendar of the European Commission for the first half of 2022 mentions the launch of a “Nature restauration…