EU-AGRI doubts feasibility of expanding organic farming

In the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament, there are still many reservations about the proposal to use EU subsidies to promote more organic farming. More advertising for organic food and more EU money for farmers who want to switch to organic farming are two key points in that plan.

Commissioners Timmermans (Environment), Kyriakides (Food), and Wojciechowski (Agriculture) advocate in their Green Deal that by 2030 a quarter of agricultural land should be organic. Currently, this is still 8.5 percent. The Netherlands is well below this with 3.7 percent, one of the lowest percentages in the EU.

Many Members of the European Parliament asked Commissioner Wojciechowski on Wednesday afternoon in the regular comagri meeting how he intends to achieve this. They also pointed out that there is insufficient consumer demand for organic products, which are usually more expensive than “regular” foods.

To reduce prices, EU countries could lower their VAT on organic food products, Wojciechowski suggested. He also said there is a large “latent” demand for organic products if these become more easily available to customers through shorter supply chains. Currently, there are hardly any “natural stores” with organic and/or ecological products in many European countries.

The Agriculture Committee believes that while the EU should do more to improve biodiversity, this must not come at the expense of the conventional agricultural sector. The Comagri Committee has many reservations and sets various conditions on this new priority within the EU subsidy flows.

An ambitious EU strategy to halt biodiversity loss must be based on scientific facts and figures, it was emphasized. In doing so, the committee reiterated its earlier appeal to first conduct feasibility studies on the possible consequences of the Green Deal.

Dutch MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen (SGP) also expressed serious doubts about the goal that a quarter of the area should be organic: “I can well understand that Brussels wants to stimulate market demand for organic products. But that is not consistent with a top-down imposed target for agricultural land. You cannot expect farmers to produce things if there is no demand for them.”

The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will have to play a key role in protecting biodiversity on agricultural land, says the Agriculture Committee. That ‘agri wish list’ is now being submitted to the Environment Committee (ENVI), which will probably adopt the European Parliament’s biodiversity strategy next week.