The three EU institutions – European Parliament, Council of the European Union and European Commission – have signed a joint declaration officially instating September 23 as EU Organic Day.
This follows up on the action plan for the development of organic production, adopted by the commission in March, which announced the creation of such a day to raise awareness of organic production.
At the signing and launch ceremony, Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said that today is a celebration of organic production, “a sustainable type of agriculture where food production is done in harmony with nature, biodiversity and animal welfare”.
“September 23 is also autumnal equinox, when day and night are equally long, a symbol of balance between agriculture and environment that ideally suits organic production.”
The overall aim of the action plan for the development of organic production is to boost the production and consumption of organic products in order to contribute to the achievement of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies’ targets such as reducing the use of fertilisers, pesticides and antimicrobials.
Possibilities for organic offered by CAP
IFOAM Organics Europe, the organisation for organic food and farming, has welcomed the initiative. The organisation’s president, Jan Plagge, said:
“The EU Organic Day will be the ideal opportunity to take stock of how Europe is performing reaching its goal of 25% organic land under organic management by 2030, of trends in consumer demand, awareness of organic in the supply chain and of the implementation of the EU organic action plan.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with relevant institutions and interested stakeholders and all member states and regions to make this day a success. I thank all organic operators and wish you a healthy, ecological, fair and caring EU Organic Day.”
However, the organic movement’s president added some cautionary notes on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): “This EU Organic Day is part of the EU organic action plan that needs to be implemented by, among others, member states through their national CAP strategic plans.
“We call on member states to make the best use of the possibilities offered by the new CAP to support the development of their national organic sector.
“It is time to properly reward organic farmers, and conventional farmers transitioning to organic, for the benefits they deliver to nature and society, and to properly fund farm advisory systems geared towards organic and other agro-ecological practices.”
Area currently under organic production
Presently, about 8.5% of the EU’s agricultural area is farmed organically, and the trends show that with the present growth rate, the EU could reach between 15% and 18% by 2030.
The commission aims to boost the production and consumption of organic products, to reach 25% of agricultural land in the EU being under organic production by 2030.
Ireland’s share of agricultural land currently under organic farming is around 2%, one of the lowest in Europe.
The ‘leaders’ are Austria, with 26% – more than the 2030 target; Sweden and Estonia, with about 20% each; and Italy, Latvia and Czech Republic, at about 15%.
Countries with the smallest proportion of agricultural lands under organic production include Bulgaria, Romania, the Netherlands, Poland and Malta.