PRESS RELEASE: IFOAM EU calls for a target of 20% organic land in the EU

BRUSSELS, 13 FEBRUARY 2020 – As the European Commission is expected to release the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, the organic food and farming movement calls for ambitious EU targets to increase organic land and consumption in the EU.

The new Commission’s Green Deal highlights the need to step up the environmental ambition of the EU and to move towards sustainable food systems. According to IFOAM EU, organic farming should be at the core of this ambition as it delivers benefits for the environment and farmers.

Speaking from the Biofach organic fair in Nurnberg, Germany, Jan Plagge, IFOAM EU President, declared: “The Farm to Fork strategy should build on the success of organic farming to provide European citizens with a credible and engaging vision for an EU sustainable food production system. Targets for organic land and consumption, combined with a new organic action plan, would ensure that Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plans contribute to a balanced growth of organic production and demand, and develop the whole organic supply chain.”

To support this ambition, the post-2020 CAP budget should be at least maintained at its current level. Moreover, IFOAM EU calls for 70% of the CAP budget to be earmarked for action on the climate, environment and animal welfare.

Contact:

For more information please contact:
Léna Brisset, Policy Officer on CAP
[email protected]

Eva Berckmans, Communications Officer
+32 (0)2 416 52 32, [email protected]

Or visit www.organicseurope.org