EU needs to push through organic action plan, insists commissioner

EUROPEAN organic farmers have been feeling the pressure as agricultural prices have gone up and down like a rollercoaster.

But the EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, who made the observation, said these difficulties have certainly not been unique to the organic sector.

For all farmers, now is not the time for knee-jerk policy reactions.

And for the organic sector, in particular, the EU needs to follow through with the various initiatives it has launched under the Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming.

Ms Fischer Boel said that she did not think it time for a new action plan. She did not believe a new plan would be of much value until the impact of the current plan was known.

“On the other hand, I’m open to the idea of a mid-term evaluation of the current plan. If there’s clear evidence that we need to change course slightly — why not?”

Ms Fischer Boel said it is essential to get clear messages across to consumers about what organic food and farming can do for them. The European Commission’s website “toolbox” is a valuable asset from this point of view.

“One of the messages we need to get across to consumers is that they can rely on products which claim to be organic and which come from other countries in the EU (and from outside it).

“This is why a new European organic logo will be important,” she said.

Ms Fischer Boel said that designing a new logo is a task which the commission has opened up to all the creative talent in art and design schools — through a competition which will start in a few weeks.

She said that by the end of the year it will be possible for everybody to vote for their favourite design on the internet.

“Then, I sincerely believe, we’ll end up with a logo that really reaches out and grabs the attention of whoever sees it. That’s what we need,” she said.

Ms Fischer Boel said overall the sector is facing challenges, but it is also making progress on many fronts.