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Mariann Fischer Boel, Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development:
Working for success in the EU organic sector

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European Organic Congress organised by IFOAM
Brussels, Belgium
4 December 2007

Mariann Fischer Boel
Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development
Working for success in the EU organic sector

[Ladies and gentlemen],

It's a great pleasure to join you today.

This conference is about looking ahead. Of course this is usually a good thing to do: it shows that we have a sense of purpose and determination.

But I think it's also very important to look at the map from time to time and see how far we've already come. This gives a sense of overall progress. It can even be encouraging!

And in the case of the organic sector, I think we have a lot to be encouraged about. According to our map, we have walked really quite a long way and climbed at least one hill – so that now, we have a nice view of the surrounding countryside.

The first reason for encouragement is that the organic food market is strong.

This is a fundamental point. I always say that the organic sector must essentially be driven by demand - and we see that the demand is there.

It's hard to measure, because most Member States don't provide official figures on sales and consumption. This means that we don't have official figures at European level, either.

On the other hand, academics carry out studies on this issue from time to time. For example, we have seen studies comparing sales in 2005 with those in 2001. These studies reported an increase of 40 to 50 per cent in that period for a number of member States.

More generally, it's clear that most of the pioneer producers and companies have seen continuous growth, while new market players are entering the field. Interest is increasing among supermarkets, restaurants and other caterers. Direct marketing boxes are also still doing well.

In other words: organic products are more and more available in all market chains.

On some markets, we are actually seeing shortages of organic products – even though production is increasing steadily in most countries of the EU-15, and is booming in some New Member States.

And of course, outside the European Union, organic production has got its foot in the door around the world. Large countries such as China, India and Brazil have all taken an interest and now have policies in place to develop organic production.

A second reason to be encouraged is that there's now a keen awareness of the societal benefits that organic farming offers. This is clear from Member States' various rural development programmes, which contain a huge number of measures in favour of organic farming and food production.

The third reason to be encouraged is that we're advancing well with carrying out the European Union Organic Action Plan.

We have at least started putting into action 19 out of 21 of the measures listed in the Action Plan. In particular, early next spring we should be ready to launch our new promotion campaign – complete with the European Union organic logo, which should be finalised by the end of this year.

Of course, a large chunk of the work set out in the Action Plan has been to update the rules governing organic food and farming within the European Union.

No one would claim that we had an easy ride on our way to agreement on the Council Regulation. But no one should have expected an easy ride: there was too much at stake, and the level of commitment in the organic sector is too high. Heated debates were always to be expected.

The important point is that we did reach agreement. We do now have the new Council Regulation. And it will bring benefits.

For example:

It's good that the principles of organic farming are now clearly defined.
It's good that wine, seaweeds and yeast will now be included.
It's good that labelling rules are now much clearer and more informative.
And it's good that our rules for importing organic products are now more rational, and will be easier to apply in the long term.
Getting this Council Regulation signed off was a huge piece of work, and we should be pleased with it!

Of course, in terms of the legislative framework, we now have a solid foundation, but we haven't finished building the house.

For step two - building the walls and roof of the house - we need to agree on the implementing rules. I think it would be good to get the walls and the roof finished as soon as possible: we don't want to leave the foundations exposed to wind and rain for too long! So I look forward to further contributions to this work from IFOAM – and of course, the IFOAM EU group will have its next meeting on this topic with staff from DG Agri this week.

Then, in the third step, we'll build extensions to the house, as announced, by including rules on wine, aquaculture and seaweed.

So, as I say, we've covered a lot of ground, and our lungs can feel it. We can be pleased with what we've already achieved, and with the work that's still in progress.

But what's coming up on the horizon?

I should tell you first about what's not coming. I really don't think that it's time for a new Action Plan.

As I have said, we've now built up considerable momentum with the current Action Plan, but we're a long way from completing it. While this is still the case – while we can't see the impact of measures that we've only recently begun to implement – new plans are not what we need.

The important thing is to be working in practice to help the organic sector maximise its success.

I would like to thank IFOAM for its contribution to the Health Check of the Common Agricultural Policy – which is of course at the centre of debate on the CAP at the moment.

Different groups have been expecting different things from the Health Check. I have made it clear that the Health Check will be more than fine-tuning, but won't be a "new reform". And both the Council and the European Parliament have reacted very positively to the Health Check communication which the Commission tabled last month. Clearly, we have a good springboard from which to launch the discussion.

In the ideas set out in the communication, there are clear potential benefits for organic farming. This is true with regard both to the "first pillar" of the CAP (so, direct payments and market measures), and to the second pillar (rural development).

Concerning the first pillar, I've made a number of proposals about how the Single Payment Scheme works in practice. One of these is that some Member States should be allowed to reduce the differences between individual farmers' decoupled payments.

This would bring larger decoupled payments to many organic farmers, because in many cases the financial contribution from direct payments was relatively low in the reference period of 2000 to 2002.

Concerning the second pillar, I've proposed that we channel extra funding available into rural development by raising the rate of "compulsory modulation".

This would give Member States more money to spend on measures to assist organic farming, if they chose to do so.

Let me comment briefly on some of the specific points raised in the IFOAM position paper on the Health Check.

Regarding the Single Payment Scheme, you want to see the "regional" model applied throughout the European Union. As I have said, I think we should at least give certain Member States the chance to move towards a model with a flatter rate – which would be a regional model in many cases.
You want to see changes to cross-compliance. I think there's a danger of loading too many ambitions onto cross-compliance, but I certainly want to make sure that it's doing its job effectively, efficiently and simply.
You draw attention to climate change. This topic gets a lot of coverage in the Health Check communication. Organic farming can be part of the solution, though not the whole solution.
I don't agree with you that the CAP should in no way support the biofuel sector. Biofuels do have a role to play with regard to climate change and energy insecurity – if we use them in the right way. But I do agree that the current energy crop support system is no longer appropriate.
Finally, you want to see compulsory modulation of 20 per cent. As I have said, I also want to increase compulsory modulation, but I think a level of 20 per cent is politically unrealistic at the moment.
What I have not done in the Health Check communication is set out thoughts on organic farming specifically.

I see no need to do so. We already have a detailed Action Plan that is specific to the sector. Also, organic farming is part of the solution to some of the challenges that farming must face – but not the whole solution. As we define and examine these challenges, the role of organic farming will enter the debate quite naturally.

What about the future beyond 2013?

Of course, on this issue I can speak with less certainty for the time being.

I very much hope that the organic market will continue to grow. That will depend on many different factors. But most experts seem to forecast that there will be further steady growth. That's good news.

With regard to policy, I can't say anything in detail. But what I will say is this: in the European Union, there is an ever-sharper focus on environmental issues, and I would expect organic farming to gain from this.

At (or near) the top of our list of environmental worries is climate change.

Overall, organic farming can make a contribution to fighting climate change, but we need to know more about this. So I'm looking forward to learning about the research results which will be presented here today.

As in other forms of agriculture, in organic farming we must introduce smart techniques to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

And it goes without saying that we must keep an eye on the whole picture: for example, we want clean groundwater and low energy use. We want to make the overall environmental impact of organic farming as positive as possible.

Alongside climate change, there's also growing concern about biodiversity.

In this area, the science is very clear: organic farming scores high marks.

Wider crop rotations, the absence of herbicides, and other particular efforts by organic farmers, are a big support to biodiversity.

Nevertheless, a high score is not necessarily the best score that could be achieved. It's possible that the rules on organic farming could be sharpened up with regard to biodiversity.

Let's look at this together, and see what's possible. And let's be creative. Not all ideas need to end up in a Regulation. We might get just as much benefit out of good models for specific agri-environmental measures involving organic methods, or from a code of good practice.

In conclusion: I would emphasise once more: we've been walking at a good pace. The map shows that we've made good progress.

Of course, we haven't finished! Let's keep at it – but let's also recognise the value of what we've already done.

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

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