BRUSSELS, 23 OCTOBER 2020 – This week, Members of the European Parliament voted on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and Agriculture Ministers reached an agreement in the Council, opening the possibility to start trilogue negotiations. According to the organic food and farming movement, Europe’s elected representatives disregarded citizens' demands for a true transformation of food and farming, and failed to fully align the CAP with the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies’ objectives. Jan Plagge, President of IFOAM Organics Europe expresses his disappointment: “Small steps to green the CAP are not sufficient. The next ten years should be a decade of action and transformation to win the race against a climate and biodiversity catastrophe. Now, the Commission has a huge responsibility to ensure that EU money will be put to good use by Member States and that national CAP Strategic Plans will be up to the challenges of the biodiversity and climate crises. The organic movement will continue to support all initiatives to bring the CAP in line with the EU Green Deal, Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies in the upcoming negotiations.” Plagge continued: “As the impacts of climate change are already upon us, resilient food production needs well-functioning ecosystems, healthy soils, clean water and more biodiversity at all levels. The vast majority of farmers wants to do more for the environment, but they need to be properly incentivised and supported by the CAP to change their farming systems and practices. The EU Green Deal is what European citizens expect from Europe, but it is also an opportunity for farmers and rural areas.” Kurt Sannen, Chair of IFOAM Organics Europe's Interest Group of Organic Farmers added that “A huge majority of MEPs (589 in favour vs 94 against) voted in favour of amendment 811, requiring Member States to include an analysis of the organic sector as part of their Strategic Plan, and set up objectives to increase the share of organically managed land. That is a positive step in line with the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, but to transform our food systems we need a CAP that better incentivises and helps all farmers to adopt more sustainable practices.” Ends.
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