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Evaluation of the EU legislation on organic farming

Abstract

The first EU legislation on organic farming adopted in 1991 was one important driving force for the development of the EU organic farming sector. It provided the legal definition of organic farming through production rules and defined control and labelling requirements to protect consumers and organic farmers against false and misleading organic claims. This regulation has been substantially revised, resulting in Council Regulation (EC) 834/2007. The project is to evaluate the relevance and effectiveness of Council Regulation (EC) 834/2007 and its implementing rules with respect to

  • adequacy of the scope of the regulation;
  • adequacy of the production and processing rules;
  • adequacy of the overall control system;
  • adequacy of the import regime;
  • consumer perceptions of organic farming;
  • degree of simplification of the current legislative measures compared to the legal framework applicable before 2009;
  • creation of EU added value through the EU legislative framework for organic farming;
  • contribution to the sustainable development of the organic farming sector.

Furthermore, the evaluation provides a concise description of the development of the EU organic sector and the world market in organic products, and of public support measures for the EU organic farming sector.
The evaluation concludes that the EU legislation on organic farming is generally adequate to achieve the objective of the Regulation, of organic farming and for a sustainable development of organic production. However the evaluation results draw attention to a number of areas where action is needed and the regulatory framework could be improved.

Financing/ Donor
  • EC DG Agriculture and Rural Development
Project partners
  • Thünen Institute (Germany)
  • Organic Research Center (UK)
  • Oréade Brèche (FR)
  • Institute of European Environmental Policy (IEEP, UK)
FiBL project leader/ contact
FiBL project staff
  • Huber Beate (Vice-chairwoman of the Management Board; Department of International Cooperation)
  • Schmid Otto (Department of Food System Sciences)
FiBL project number 35083
Date modified 12.11.2019
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