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 –…

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…

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:…

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…

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…

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…

Technical workshops future CAP – From food security to solidarity & rural areas

On 16-17 May 2024 the European Commission organised the last technical workshop for Solidarity and Rural Communities in the next…

Commission's proposed measures on unfair trading practices

In April 2024, the European Commission unveiled its non-paper Position of farmers in the food supply chain: next steps. In…

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…

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…

Political Hotspot December 2023

With an eye on next year’s elections, the EU institutions have geared up work on many important dossiers. But rushing…

European Parliament rejects Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR)

On 22 November, the plenary of the European Parliament voted to reject the proposal of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides…

Sprouting discontent: organic movement regrets European Parliament's failure to pesticides reduction

BRUSSELS, 22 NOVEMBER 2023 – IFOAM Organics Europe regrets the European Parliament’s inability to agree on a pesticides reduction regulation. …

IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes progress on pesticides reduction negotiations

BRUSSELS, 24 OCTOBER 2023 – IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes the vote today of the European Parliament Environment Committee on the…

Baking soda more dangerous than synthetic pesticides? - EU decision-makers on the brink of endorsing deceptive pesticide metrics

16 OCTOBER 2023, BRUSSELS, PARIS, BERLIN, VIENNA – As the Council opens negotiations today on ‘Targets and Indicators’ the European…

Baking Soda more dangerous than Glyphosate & Co.?

Invitation to Online Press Conference 16 October 9:00 AM CEST Join us on https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83162329706?pwd=WkRFOTFuRVFFYitEdkRzcFNoYTArZz09Meeting ID: 831 6232 9706Passcode: 284856 BRUSSELS,…

BIOFRUITNET project promoting cross-border knowledge exchange comes to an end

Over the past 3.5 years the BIOFRUITNET project has collected and synthesized existing practical and scientific knowledge on organic fruit-growing,…

Debate and discussion: Which recycled nutrients products could be suitable for organic farming? 

On 18 September, 14:00-17:00, we are holding an online workshop on Recycled Nutrients for Organic Farming with the European Sustainable…

BIOFRUITNET project: Making stronger networks in organic fruit growing

Knowledge sharing is key for bringing together innovative ideas and identify new solutions in organic farming. The Horizon 2020 BIOFRUITNET…

New video on organic plant health care & updates on the SUR 

We are happy to announce that we just published a new video on the organic approach to plant health care…

The Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR), moving forward but slowly

The legislative process of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR) proposed by the European Commission back in June 2022…

Scientific study shows synthetic pesticides significantly more dangerous than natural ones 

More organic farming means less pesticide use and risk  BRUSSELS, VIENNA, 23 FEBRUARY 2023 – The European Green Deal’s targets of…

Online press conference: Conventional and organic pesticides compared, 23 February

“Organic farming is not what it claims to be. Organic farmers also spray poisons – and not too sparingly.” “Organic…

Innovative solutions in organic fruit production – BIOFRUITNET project's final conference - 2 March 2023, 9:15-13.30 (CET), online 

Organic farming relies on knowledge and information flow and has a biodiversity-based approach to plant health. Sharing the available best…

Organic movement's recommendations on EU pesticides regulation (SUR)

IFOAM Organics Europe’s position paper gathering our recommendations on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR) is out.   As our…

Save the bees and farmers hearing at the European Parliament  

The official hearing of the European Citizens (ECI) Initiative Save the Bees and Farmers, which we are part of, take…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Expert on recycled fertilisers? Join our Task Force on Recycled Fertilisers

IFOAM Organics Europe’s Board created a Task Force on Recycled Fertilisers. This decision comes in the context of the “Integrated…
 
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