A report published on 23 September by the European Court of Auditors sows seeds of doubt about the effectiveness of EU support for organic farming. The current strategy has significant shortcomings, and there is neither a vision nor targets for the organic sector beyond 2030. While the billions of euros the EU provides annually have extended the area of land that is organically farmed, too little attention is being paid to the requirements and needs of the sector. As a result, organic production remains a niche market, and the auditors warn that the EU is likely to be wide of the mark for the sector.
Organic farming is an essential component of the EU’s farm-to-fork strategy, and has a role to play in meeting the EU’s ambitious environmental and climate objectives. During the 2014-2022 period, Europe’s farmers received around €12 billion of support from the common agricultural policy (CAP) to convert to organic farming or maintain organic farming practices, and nearly €15 billion more is planned until 2027. However, the uptake of organic farming varies significantly between member states, ranging from less than 5 % of the agricultural area in the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Ireland and Malta, to over 25 % in Austria.
“European agriculture is becoming greener, and organic farming plays a key role in that. But for lasting success, it is not enough to focus on increasing just the area of land that is organically farmed. More needs to be done to support the sector as a whole – developing the market and boosting production”, said Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, the ECA member responsible for the audit. “Otherwise, we risk creating a lopsided system that is entirely dependent on EU funds, rather than a thriving industry spurred on by informed consumers.”
The auditors found that environmental and market objectives can be overlooked by CAP support. For instance, farmers can receive EU money even if they do not apply the crop rotation or animal-welfare standards that are basic principles of organic farming. The auditors also found that it was common legal practice to obtain authorisation for using non-organic seeds when planting organic crops. And they note that there is currently no way to measure how the supposed environmental benefits of organic farming have materialised.
CAP support was meant to compensate farmers for the additional costs of and income lost by switching from conventional to organic farming. As organic farmers were not required to produce any organic products in order to receive EU money, this contributes to a situation where organic production remains a very small market, accounting for no more than 4 % of the total EU food market.
More generally, the EU auditors call the EU’s strategy in this field into question. Although the current action plan for the sector is an improvement on its predecessor, it lacks key elements. It still has neither adequate and quantifiable goals for the organic sector, nor ways to measure progress. Furthermore, the auditors highlight the lack of strategic vision beyond 2030, which would provide the stability and long-term perspective that the sector would need to succeed.
In practice, the only (non-binding) target that the EU has set for the sector is to increase the area to be farmed organically. However, the development of organic farming, and ambitions to expand it, differ considerably between EU countries, to such an extent that the EU risks missing its 25 % target for 2030. To get back on track, uptake of organic farming practices in Europe would need to double, the auditors warn.
Later this year, the ECA will also publish a report on EU food-labelling policy.
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Source: European Court of Auditors
