Kathmandu July 1, BRUSSELS, July 1,IFOAM Organics Europe today held a press conference on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, presenting the demands of the European organic movement. This event followed the handover of the statement on the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen, calling for strong and dedicated support for organic farming after 2027.
Dóra Drexler, the newly elected President of IFOAM Organics Europe, said “‘Organic farming is an essential public policy tool to drive the transformation towards sustainable and resilient agri-food systems in the EU. It delivers solutions to many challenges like lowering the EU’s dependency on synthetic inputs, contributing to Europe’s food sovereignty, offering new opportunities to youth in rural areas thanks to better economic prospects, and many more. The CAP supported the development of organic farming in the last decades and should continue to adequately support organic farmers, as organic represents the easiest and most efficient way to uphold environmental ambitions for the CAP in the new budget structure.”
The Council Chair of IFOAM Organics Europe, Jan Plagge continued: “Member States should maintain the obligation of supporting organic farmers in the future CAP, through maintenance and conversion payments fully funded with EU money, as this is a crucial tool to support the organic sector and offers predictability to farmers engaged in sustainable methods of production.
The new budget structure proposed can be used to achieve this: IFOAM Organics Europe calls Member States to integrate organic chapters in their National and Regional Partnership Plans. This is already the case in the CAP Strategic Plans, and this approach should be continued.”
As discussions on the future CAP and the next Multiannual Financial Framework advance, IFOAM Organics Europe looks calls on the Commission, MEPs and Member States to ensure that organic farming receives the support and recognition needed to benefit farmers, consumers and society.
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