Organic farming in the EU – Gaps and inconsistencies hamper the success of the policy

Summary:

Organic farming is an agricultural method to produce food using natural substances and processes. The Commission set the target of having 25 % of the EU’s agricultural land organically farmed by 2030 – a significant jump from 10.5 % in 2022. We found that the EU strategy for organic farming lacked important elements such as quantifiable objectives and how to measure progress. The EU funds for organic farming – over €12 billion in 2014-2022 – helped to increase the organic area, but the environmental and market objectives were not sufficiently taken into account. Moreover, due to data constraints, the policy’s impact could not be assessed. We have made recommendations to improve the strategy and effectiveness of the EU funds for the organic sector.

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