IFOAM Organics Europe, a representative body for the EU’s organic farming sector, has said that the recent Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture “creates unique momentum” to further expand organic farming.

Speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee, IFOAM president Jan Plagge, who is also the president of a German organisation of some 10,000 organic producers in that country, said that the dialogue can, through organic farming, reconcile environmental and economic sustainability.

“The strategic dialogue’s recommendations are an opportunity for farmers, as they make it clear that environmental sustainability must go hand-in-hand with fair incomes,” Plagge said.

“The strategic dialogue offers clear pathways for all farmers to transition to sustainable systems in a way that improves livelihoods and provides a real simplification while preventing greenwashing.”

The IFOAM president said that this is already demonstrated through organic food and farming.

“The strategic dialogue explicitly recognises organic farming as a prime example of food production systems that reconciles nature protection and farmers’ income; as the only legally-defined and regulated sustainable production system in the EU; and it should be upscaled,” he added.

“The European Commission and the European Parliament must build on this unprecedented consensus among all agri-food stakeholders to shape a clear vision of the future for the agriculture sector,” Plagge said.

IFOAM said it would continue to be a partner to “realise this shared vision for making EU agri-food more economically and environmentally sustainable”.

EU strategic dialogue

With a new European Parliament in place, and a new commission about to take office, there is a renewed focus on the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture.

In a joint statement, several EU farm organisations have expressed concern that renewed interest in the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement would run counter to the outcomes of the dialogue.

Several groups – including Copa Cogeca, which represents farm organisations and agricultural co-operatives – said that rarifying the agreement would go against the spirit of the dialogue, and would “send a terrible message to the agri-food community” at the beginning of the new commission.