Organics in Europe at a glance

Regulatory framework

Since 1991, the EU Organic Regulation regulates organic farming at the EU level. Until 31 December 2021, Council Regulation (EC) no 834/2007 set the European organic production requirements by defining its aims, objectives, and principles. Two implementing regulations (No 889/2008 and No 1235/2008) detail organic production, labelling, control and import rules. These regulations used to apply to all products with the organic label sold in the EU.

In 2011, the European Commission announced the revision of the legal framework for organic production. Three years later, it presented a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and Council of the EU. After a long revision process, the new organic regulation (EU) 2018/848 was adopted by the Parliament and Council and published in June 2018.

The new EU Organic Regulation was set to apply from 1 January 2021, but due to the difficulties posed by COVID-19, IFOAM Organics Europe asked for postponing the new EU Organic Regulation’s implementation with one-year. Thanks to the joined efforts we did together with our members, we did what seemed impossible – we managed to postpone the implementation of the EU Organic Regulation with one year. This gave many organic operators the time to (better) prepare for the changes to their day-to-day business.

Since 1 January 2022 the new Regulation (EU) 2018/848 applies and is complemented by a significant number of secondary acts (implementing and delegated regulations). The new EU Organic Regulation also contains many references to other EU horizontal legislations (on food, official controls, fertilisers, flavourings, etc.). By now, reading the new EU Organic regulation is far from easy. We have developed guidelines to help operators navigate the regulations’ legal labyrinth – they are available on regulation.organicseurope.bio and will be updated in 2024.

Policy framework

European organic farming practices are greatly influenced by a variety of European initiatieves and policies, including the European Green Deal (EGD) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

With the European Green Deal’s publication in December 2019, the Commission launched “a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use”. The European Green Deal includes two important strategies for the organic sector: the Farm to Fork Strategy and the EU Biodiversity Strategy (2020).

Importantly, one of the Farm to Fork Strategy’s four targets is reaching 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030. The Commission recognised organic as part of the solution to more sustainable food systems. IFOAM Organics Europe believes this target is ambitious but achievable if the right mechanisms are in place.

One of the flagship initiatives of the Farm to Fork Strategy is the proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems (SFS). This initiative aims to make the EU food system more sustainable, strengthen its resilience, and integrate sustainability into all food-related policies. It lays down rules on the sustainability labelling of food products and minimum criteria for sustainable public procurement of food. While the law was scheduled to be adopted by the Commission in the third quarter of this year, it has been indefinitely delayed and it is not clear if it will be presented before the end of this Commission’s mandate in October 2024.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to recover Europe’s biodiversity by 2030. To do this, it states that 25% of the EU’s agricultural land should be farmed organically.

An important tool to reach the 25% goal and further develop the organic sector is the 2021-2027 Organic Action Plan, published by the Commission on 25 March 2021. It aims at balancing increases in both production of and demand for organic products. The new Organic Action Plan increases the share of research and innovation funding for organic under Horizon Europe to at least 30% of the budget for R&I actions in the field of agriculture, forestry and rural areas to topics specific to or relevant to the organic sector.

Another key element of the EU Biodiversity strategy is the Nature Restoration Law, which proposal was adopted by the Commission on 22 June 2022. The proposal combines an overarching restoration objective for the long-term recovery of nature in the EU’s land and sea areas with binding restoration targets for specific habitats and species. These measures should cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and ultimately all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. While the law was adopted by MEPs in July 2023, the articles have been watered down compared to the original Commission’s proposal and the Council’s position.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the main policy instrument that could make the many objectives of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies a reality – around 30% of the EU budget goes to the CAP. Since its creation, the CAP has already undergone significant reforms. The creation of Rural Development (Pillar II) was crucial to develop organic farming and other sustainable farming practices. It is now key that this major EU policy is reformed even further to put sustainability at the core of its architecture. On 23 November 2021, the European Parliament’s Plenary adopted the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (2023-2027) Regulation. The new CAP Strategic Plan Regulation maintains the two-pillar architecture but includes a new direction towards more subsidiarity and an attempt to introduce a performance-based delivery model. This gives Member States more flexibility to design their CAP Strategic Plans at the national level.

The new legal framework created:

New social conditionality enhancing farmers’ and farm workers’ rights, mandatory as of 2025, to ensure that the CAP payments are linked to a compliance with certain European labour law provisions.
New ‘Green Architecture’ consisting of:
- New ‘Eco-schemes’ with a ringfenced budget of 25% of the first Pillar after a two-year transition period (2023-2024). They are mandatory for Member States and voluntary for farmers;
- Nine Good Agricultural and Environmental Land Conditions (GAECs) in the first Pillar, also known as the conditionality to receive CAP payments; and
- Agri-environmental and Climate Measures (AECMs) account for 35% budget of the second Pillar.

In November 2021, the Commission published the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 as one of the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s commitments. The Soil Strategy addresses the importance of healthy soils for climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity, ecosystem services, food production, and the economy. As part of this, a new Soil Monitoring Law was proposed on 5 July 2023 to ensure a level playing field and a high level of environmental and health protection. It is a key deliverable of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 and aims to contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal.

In December 2021, the European Commission introduced the ‘Sustainable Carbon Cycles’ communication outlining the EU-wide Carbon Removal Certification Framework’s design. The final draft regulation was released on November 30, 2022, and underwent negotiations in 2023. This framework incentivizes investments in carbon removal and storage within EU Member States, covering processes in land use and technical sectors. It aims to contribute to the 2050 climate neutrality target and other environmental objectives by ensuring high-quality carbon removal through established criteria and rules for monitoring and verification.

On 5 July, the Commission adopted a proposal for the European Parliament and Council on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Following the proposal, NGT (New Genomic Techniques) plants falling under ‘category 1’ would undergo a verification process based on set criteria. If they meet these criteria, they would be treated like conventionally bred plants and exempted from GMO legislation requirements. The legislative process in the European Parliament and European Council started after the publication of the proposal, with votes in the AGRI and ENVI committees.

The EU Organic Day, 23 September, launched by the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council of the European Union in 2021, represents the occasion to assess trends in consumer demands, continue raising awareness of organic in the supply chain, and finally, define new targets for the future of organic in Europe. This day is one of the actions in the EU Organic Action Plan to increase supply and demand for organic.

ORGANIC MARKET AND PRODUCTION

In 2022, the EU’s total area of farmland under organic production grew to 16.9 million hectares. Compared to 2021, the number of organic producers in the EU increased by 10.8% to 419,112. However, the EU’s organic retail market does not accompany the significant production growth, decreasing by 3% as to 2021 data and resulting in45.1 billion EUR, still the second largest market, after the USA and followed by China. While the organic market moderately contracted in 2022, it generally remains as it was before the 2020 peak. Trends from 2019 to 2023 even indicate that the organic market is growing as anticipated, reflecting sustained interest and potential for future expansion in this sector.

Overall, the EU’s organic market is very dynamic with growth rates varying between different countries. Its continuous positive development is due to a combination of factors. Besides the innovative character of organic food and farming, growing policy support and European citizens increasing demand for high-quality, sustainable food production, despite the geopolitical situation and the ongoing war in Ukraine. This is well represented in the growing per capita consumption of organic products, which reached 102 EUR on average. Generally speaking, consumers spend more on organic food every year with certain product groups achieving above-average market shares.

Browse our interactive infographic with country-specific data and trends on organic production and retail.

Organic and the sustainable development goals

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an urgent call to action for all nations to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. They address the global challenges related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice.

Organic agriculture is part of the solutions to many problems the SDGs are meant to face. Investing in organic food and farming can improve our chances of successfully implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development based on the 17 SDGs.

Goal 2 – Zero hunger: Organic farming offers many environmental and social advantages as it trains farmers in low-cost agroecological farming methods, building on local management skills and resources, enabling them to grow nutritious food and combat hunger in their communities. Organic agriculture supports ecologically sound food systems that increase and stabilize yields, improve resistance to pests and diseases and battle poverty by reducing debt incurred by the purchase of chemical inputs, thus fostering food security. As 95% of our food comes directly and indirectly from the soil, we need farming practices that protect our soil. That is why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) encourages organic agriculture as one of the five forms of sustainable farming practices.
Goal 3 – Good health and well-being: Healthy and sustainable food can only come from healthy sustainable agriculture. By not using harmful chemicals in growing food, chemicals which deplete soils and contaminate water, and with fewer antibiotics, organic farming improves the health of farmers, the environment, farmworkers and society as a whole.
Goal 6 – Clean water and sanitation: Organic farming prevents the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. By managing nutrients more carefully and reducing nitrogen and phosphorus leaching, organic farmers help protect our water systems from pesticide run-off and keep our water clean. Moreover, the use of compost by organic farmers instead of artificial fertilizers increases soil life and organic matter content. This creates the ‘sponge effect’ and allows organic farmers to use up to 60% less water compared to non-organic farms.
Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth: Sustainable agriculture practices like organic farming have a positive impact on local economies, promote resources circulation and reduce dependency on external inputs. Organic farms often create more jobs and better incomes for farmers and workers, as in addition to organic price premium organic certification can also be associated with indirect economic benefits such as training, credit, and special education programs, especially in developing countries. There, organic farms are also generally perceived as a safer working environment because workers do not come into contact with harmful chemicals.
Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and production: Organic farming practices target more efficient use of natural resources such as soil, water, and air. It is for instance more energy efficient as organic farmers do not use energy-intensive synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and organic ruminants are largely fed on grass instead of energy-intensive concentrate feed. By assessing environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits of food production, and by making them ‘visible’, organic farming contributes to long-term sustainable food production. Raising awareness of the true cost of food production could also play a major role in reducing retail and consumer food waste.
Goal 13 – Climate Action: Research shows that the production of synthetic fertilizers is the second-largest source of emissions of CO2 in agriculture. Instead of being dependent on synthetic fertilizers, organic farmers apply beneficial soil management practices to ensure soil fertility (e.g., crop rotation, cover crops, minimum tillage, and compost). This also results in higher soil carbon sequestration compared to conventional farms. Practices like the use of compost help organic farmers also to improve the water retention capacity of the soil. Thus, organic farming makes farms more resilient, helps mitigate climate change and adapt to weather extremities such as floods, droughts, and land degradations processes.
Goal 14 – Life below water: Organic farming protects our water and its biodiversity by significantly reducing nutrient pollution through synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use, which are one of the main causes of marine dead zones.

Goal 15 – Life on Land: Organic farming increases the abundance and diversity of species. Organically managed lands often have more semi-natural habitats which help to protect and preserve biodiversity, and host on average 30% more varieties of flora and fauna and 50% more individual plants compared to farms that rely on intensive agrochemical use. Organic farmers also protect and enrich soil biodiversity (which represents 25% of the world’s biodiversity) thanks to soil management practices supporting fertility and reducing soil erosion.