EU Commissioner campaigns for more organic farming

The new EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski strives to make organic farming the norm. This was announced by the Polish politician at the reception of the Bund für Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft BÖLW (Organic Food Production Alliance) at the Green Week in Berlin. He additionally promised an action plan for organic food.

According to a taz report, the commissioner said during the reception that it is his dream that all European agriculture should be organic. Industry representatives reacted to this statement with cheers, writes the daily newspaper. The BÖLW titled its press statement with the commissioner’s quote: “Make organic the norm”. Wojciechowski also said that the second pillar of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must enable a strong development of organic farming. According to the taz, Wojciechowski said: “We should therefore reform our common agricultural policy and make our agriculture more environmentally, climate- and animal-friendly”, and named organic farming as a very important part of this contribution. The Commissioner announced an action plan for the sector, which will also lead to the further development of the organic market.

In her speech, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner addressed the protests of the industry against planned regulations of the EU organic regulation on animal husbandry. She said that it is crucial for organic farming that EU Eco-Regulations are designed in a practical way. Klöckner views the postponement of the decision on the new rules in organic law as an opportunity to find good solutions.

Parallel to its reception, the BÖLW presented a position paper with the ten most important points that need to be implemented by politicians now. The title of the paper is “From protest to reconstruction: How to succeed in the changing times?” (German: “Vom Protest zum Umbau: Wie gelingt die Zeitenwende?”). Species protection is included as well as the new genetic engineering and fertilization regulations.