News
05/05/2021
GMOs
Political hotspot May 2021 newsletter
On Thursday, 29 April, the Commission released their long-awaited in-house study on the ‘status of new genomic techniques under Union…
03/05/2021
Seeds
EU Commission presents options to review the common seed legislation
Following a request from Member States in 2019, the Commission has published a study on the options to update the…
Organic movement raises red flag on assumed benefits deregulating new genomic techniques
BRUSSELS, 29 APRIL 2021 – The organic food and farming movement criticises the Commission’s plan to work on a new…
19/04/2021
Food policy
Take part in the public consultation on promotion policy and contribute to support sustainable consumption
This year the European Commission earmarked an unprecedented share of €49 million to promote organic production and consumption in the…
How can Europe rise to face agroecological transition? Nyéléni Europe’s policy report
How can the European Green Deal, the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and land policies…
RELACS and Organic-PLUS collaborate to find alternatives to contentious inputs
On 8 April 2021, more than 50 participants joined RELACS and Organic-PLUS’ webinar to discuss both projects’ activities on reducing…
Towards a new framework for EU soils?
Soil is a non-renewable resource key to all growing and living on it. Part of the EU Biodiversity strategy for…
13/04/2021
Plant health care
Public consultation on the revision of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUD) legislation closes
While the European Commission is revising the Directive for a sustainable use of pesticides (the so-called SUD), IFOAM Organics Europe…
New Organic Action Plan: Focus on research & innovation
The new Organic Action Plan (OAP) published at the end of March 2021 recognises that research will be key for…
LIVESEED webinar for Members of the European Parliament & their staff - 30 March, online
On 30 March, LIVESEED invited Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their staff to present them the outcomes of…
Civil society, farmers and business organizations: Vice-President Timmermans, don't deregulate GM crops & animals
BRUSSELS, 30 MARCH 2021 – Today, a large coalition of 162 civil society, farmers and business organisations calls on Vice…
European Commission’s Soil Strategy
Healthy soils are essential to meet climate and biodiversity goals set by the European Green Deal. As part of the…
Welcome note March 2021 newsletter
Dear readers, On behalf of the European organic movement, I would like to welcome the new European Organic Action Plan…
Political hotspot March 2021 newsletter
The new action plan for the development of the organic sector was published on 25 March 2021. IFOAM Organics Europe…
IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes new Organic Action Plan
BRUSSELS, 25 MARCH 2021 – The organic food and farming movement welcomes today’s publication of the European Organic Action Plan…
[Exclusive for members] Let's discuss organic hot topics
As a follow-up of the thematic sessions hosted during BIOFACH, we are bringing our members live sessions during which they…
24/03/2021
Food policy
"Develop a sustainability claim, they said; it will be fun they said" - IFOAM Organics Europe position paper on substantiating claims & Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)
The Farm to Fork strategy reveals that the Commission will set up an EU sustainable food labelling framework, likely as…
23/03/2021
Plant health care
Have your say on future EU policy options on the sustainable use of pesticides: participate in the Commission’s public consultation
The European Commission is looking for stakeholders’ feedback to design future policy options for the revision of the Sustainable Use…
23/03/2021
Seeds
Secondary legislation on ‘Organic Heterogenous Material’ finalized
The secondary legislation on Organic Heterogenous Material (OHM) is in the process of being finalized and soon to be published…
New router database connects Member States’ organic seed databases
A long-awaited solution for seed suppliers, European organic farmers, and national authorities arrived. The new router database will increase the…
15/03/2021
Plant health care
The European Commission proposes updated rules for agricultural statistics on pesticides and fertilisers
The Farm to Fork strategy’s ambitions and targets have created needs for new data on pesticide and fertiliser use. In…
EUCARPIA-LIVESEED Conference - Breeding and seed sector innovations for organic food systems - 8-10 March 2021, online
A conference organised by Latvian LIVESEED partner AREI to present recent scientific results in organic plant breeding took place on…
Watch RELACS’ new project video on copper replacement in Hungarian organic vineyard
RELACS just released a new project video on replacing copper in plant protection products in organic viticulture. In the organic…
[Exclusive for members] GMOs and gene editing in agriculture: Event recordings available until 15 March
On 10 February 2021, more than 160 participants and 7 speakers joined the online event GMOs and gene editing in…
Policy report "Roots of resilience: Land policy for an agroecological transition in Europe"
A collective of organisations, coming together under the banner of the Nyéléni Europe Food Sovereignty, have just released a new…
IFOAM Organics Europe’s expert session on promotion policies during BIOFACH 2021
During BIOFACH 2021, IFOAM Organics Europe’s Food Policy Officer Silvia Schmidt organized an “Ask the Expert” Session on the Commission’s…
Organic and Conventional sectors discuss genome editing at IFOAM Organics Europe event - 10 February 2021, online
IFOAM Organics Europe invited food & farming stakeholders and policymakers to discuss GMOs and gene editing in agriculture. With the…
Political hotspot February 2021 newsletter
To help realise the European Green Deal’s shift to more sustainable food systems, the European Commission earmarked an unprecedented share…
Welcome note February 2021 newsletter
Dear readers, On behalf of the European organic movement, I would like to welcome you back after the winter break…
02/02/2021
GMOs
Detection Cibus’ GM-canola: An update
A regulation is only worth so much as it can be enforced. This is why on 7 September 2020, an…
Save the date: The organic movement meets online at BIOFACH 2021 Policy Day to discuss “25% European land in organic by 2030” - 17 February 2021, online
Organised by IFOAM Organics Europe in collaboration with BIOFACH, the Policy Day under the title 25% European Land in Organic…
28/01/2021
Food policy
Contribute to European organic stakeholder consultation about using technologies in organic food processing
Today, there is a lack of mandatory standards and indicators for organic food processing in Europe. The ProOrg project addresses…
Coming soon: EU router database for organic seed
The launch of the EU router database’s for organic seed is approaching! This database will : Simplify access to international…
From lab to field: RELACS’ first project video on new plant protection products replacing copper in organic viticulture
In their commercial vineyard in Frick, Switzerland, FiBL carried out 16 treatments of new plant protection products against mildew in…
Register now for our public event “GMOs and gene editing in agriculture: the benefits of regulation” - 10 February, online
How does organic & non-organic food and farming avoid contamination with GMOs? Why is it so relevant for food production…
“Wir haben es satt!” alliance : Use the election year to vote out an agricultural policy that is harmful to farmers, animals and the environment
This press release was first published by Wir Haben Es Satt! Agriculture change alliance (“We are fed up!”) demands sustainable…
Interested in learning more about the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture in city food systems?
As the majority of the world’s population live in cities (reaching 65% in 2050), it is crucial to shift towards…
The European organic movement welcomes opportunities promoting organic agriculture in the European Commission's promotion policy work programme
The European organic movement welcomes the special attention reserved to organic agriculture in the European Commission’s promotion policy work programme.…
Reaching 25% organic land in Europe by 2030: Ten priorities for the new EU Organic Action Plan
The European Commission is set to publish the next European Organic Action Plan (OAP) at the beginning of 2021. A…
Welcome note November 2020 newsletter
Dear readers, I would like to use this opportunity to look back on a turbulent year, marked with great successes…
Political hotspot November 2020 newsletter
The European Commission is set to publish the next European organic action plan (OAP) at the beginning of next year.…
First online edition of Organic Innovation Days was a success! 24-25 November, online
On 24-25 November 2020, TP Organics, the European Technology Platform for Organic Food and Farming, held its annual Organic Innovation…
25/11/2020
Seeds
Organic breeders, share your pictures - Use #BreedingABrightFuture on Twitter
#BreedingABrightFuture is LIVESEED’s social media campaign, aiming at raising awareness about the beauty and benefits of organic plant breeding to…
Our suggestions for the new Organic Action plan
The Commission is set to publish the next European organic action plan at the beginning of next year and has…
18/11/2020
Food policy
Shifting urban food consumption & production: FoodSHIFT2030 webinar - 18 November 2020, online
FoodSHIFT2030 presented a webinar on how citizen-driven innovation can shift the way in which we produce and consume food. Among…
Joint letter calling for balanced speaker representation at forthcoming EU Agricultural Outlook Conference
IFOAM Organics Europe, Slow Food, European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), and others call for balanced representation in terms of speakers…
13/11/2020
Plant health care
RELACS project on track despite Covid-19: First digital annual meeting - 10-12 November, online
The RELACS project’s third annual meeting took place digitally 10-12 November. It demonstrated that research in all work packages is…
12/11/2020
Seeds
Last week to register for the Organic Innovation Days 2020 – Brought to you by TP Organics and LIVESEED - 24-25 November 2020, online
Interested in organic research & innovation to transform food & farming? Interested in organic seed & plant breeding? This is…
Interested to learn how public procurement can be a driver for a more regional, sustainable and healthy food system?
FoodShift’s Regional Lunch for All Lab is based in Avignon, France, and aims at shifting public procurement towards a sustainable…
How will the EU Green Deal change Europe’s food prices change? Join our colleague Silvia online to get an idea!
On 12 November from 15:30-17:00, Silvia Schmidt, our food policy officer, will take part to the online event “The Green…