New report highlights need for increased support to organic farming in future CAP plans to reach EU 25% target

BRUSSELS, 29 JUNE 2021 – A new report by IFOAM Organics Europe highlights how much of the national CAP budgets will need to be dedicated to organic farming in all Member States to reach the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies’ average target of 25% organic land by 2030.

According to research IFOAM Organics Europe commissioned, the European Union should dedicate 3 to 5 times the current amount of CAP budget dedicated to conversion and maintenance of organic farming from 2023 onwards. Depending on their potential national target, baseline, and payments rates, in some cases, Member States should dedicate 10 times more national budget to organic support measures.

Jan Plagge, IFOAM Organics Europe’s President states: “Despite the disappointing deal on the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation, Member States still face a huge responsibility to ensure that the next CAP will address the collapse of our biodiversity and the climate crisis. Conventional farmers should be incentivised to transition to organic farming, and organic farmers should be properly rewarded for the public goods they deliver by producing quality food while protecting nature. Increased support to organic farming is a smart public policy tool to ensure that the next CAP will contribute to the Green Deal and to the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies targets. Achieving 25% organic land in the EU by 2030 will only be achievable if Member States dedicate a much higher share of the CAP budget to organic conversion and maintenance compared to what is currently envisaged in most countries.”

Eric Gall, IFOAM Organics Europe’s Policy Manager and Deputy Director added: “The organic movement is concerned that, despite a clear EU target to triple the organic area in 10 years, several governments currently envisage to lower national payment rates to organic farming in their draft CAP Strategic Plans or foresee clearly insufficient budgets to achieve their own ambition. With the new EU Organic Action Plan and the right policy incentives to increase both the production and demand for organic products, reaching the 25% target is achievable, provided Member States dedicate an adequate budget and payment rates to organic farmers in their CAP Strategic Plans.”

Ends.

For more information please contact:
Eric Gall, Policy Manager
+32 491 07 25 37, [email protected]
or
Eva Berckmans, Communications Manager
+32 2 416 52 32, [email protected]
or visit www.organicseurope.bio

Main findings

IFOAM Organics Europe presented the new study ‘Prospects & developments for organic in national CAP Strategic Plans‘, at its General Assembly today. The study visualises the efforts every country needs to put into place to reach their potential national targets, which should fairly contribute to the EU average 25% target.

In 2019, Europe had an organic land area of 9%, with average payments rates of €213.15/hectare. Only 64% of the certified organic area is currently receiving organic support payments, amounting to almost €2 billion of CAP support/year (Note: Average payment rate, percentage of certified area supported, and total spend are 2018 data).

Achieving 25% organic land in the EU by 2030 would require the EU to:

• Triple its organic land area between 2019 and 2030;
• Increase its overall CAP expenditure 3-5-fold by 2030;
• Dedicate 9-15% of the CAP budget to organic (instead of 3% as in 2018).

Achieving 25% organic land in the EU by 2030 would require Member States to:

• Increase payment rates per hectare before 2030 – to consider increases in costs since payments rates were last set in 2014;
• Some individual countries with low levels of support for organic farming would need to consider a 5-10-fold increase in expenditure to deliver realistic targets for their national organic land area.

According to IFOAM Organics Europe, Member States should introduce a national target for organic land in their CAP Strategic Plan, based on an analysis of the organic sector’s production needs, and of its contribution to the CAP, EU Green Deal, Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies’ objectives. The Commission should ensure that all CAP Strategic Plans include a target for organic land representing a fair contribution to the EU’s 25% target. Countries have different baselines and should have different targets, and Member States with already more than 25% organic land should also continue to develop organic farming. This is in line with the EU Organic Action Plan’s call for all Member States to set a target and national strategic plan for developing their organic sectors.

To find out by how much the EU and every Member State should increase their payment rates to achieve 25% organic land in the EU by 2030, have a look at our EU-27 and country cards:

Austria | Belgium | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Ireland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malta | Netherlands | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden

Background information

‘Prospects & developments for organic in national CAP Strategic Plans‘ is a 64-page document providing an overview of every EU Member State’s potential to contribute to Europe’s ambitious but achievable target of 25% by 2030 – put forward in the Farm to Fork Strategy.

The document is commissioned from an independent researcher and provides readers with an overview for the EU and each Member State. On 27, and an EU country card, the following information is available:

• Key indicators of production, market, and CAP support;
• Scenarios for CAP expenditure and their effect on the 2030 organic area;
• An overview of the current CAP support payments;
• Information about a national organic action plan; and
• Other policy support measures impacting the organic land area.

‘Prospects & developments for organic in national CAP Strategic Plans‘ is available on https://www.organicseurope.bio/library.