Inconsistencies, gaps… The conclusions of the European Court of Auditors’ report on organic farming, published on Monday 23 September, point to the weakness and lack of effectiveness of Brussels’ strategy in this area. To the point that the target of achieving 25% of the agricultural land in the 27 Member States cultivated in organic farming by 2030 has been breached. “seems out of reach”the institution estimates.
It states that in 2022, this rate was 10.5% in European territory, or 17 million hectares. An average that hides strong disparities, between Austria, which tops the table with 25% of its useful agricultural land cultivated organically, followed by Estonia, Sweden and Portugal, while the proportion is less than 5% for the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Ireland and Malta. France occupies the fifteenth position with a rate of 10.1%.
The European Union (EU) wanted to promote the use of more environmentally sustainable agricultural practices in the early 1990s. Organic farming remains to this day the only agricultural production method that is standardised and regulated at EU level. Indeed, it contributes to increasing biodiversity, reducing water, air and soil pollution and promoting climate resilience.
“Supporting the sector as a whole”
The European Court of Auditors estimates that between 2014 and 2022, 12 billion euros were invested in the development of this agriculture, which is free of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. This represents just over 2% of the total accumulated amount of the European agricultural budget during this period, estimated at around 520 billion euros. An additional 15 billion euros are planned until 2027.
These subsidies made it possible to expand the areas converted to organic farming.“But to achieve lasting success, it is not enough to focus on increasing the area of organically cultivated land. We must also support the sector as a whole by developing the market and increasing production.”said Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, the member of the Court responsible for the audit, quoted in a press release. Before adding: “Without this, we risk creating an unbalanced system that relies entirely on EU funds, rather than a thriving business driven by informed consumers.”.
Several ambitions
The rapporteurs underline the difficulty of evaluating this European policy without quantified objectives, specific financial allocations, indicators and monitoring data. However, they acknowledged that when publishing, in May 2020, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, implementing the European Green Deal, the Commission this time set itself the non-binding objective of dedicating 25% of agricultural land to organic farming by 2030. An action plan for 2021-2027 was then developed. While acknowledging an improvement, with a better description of actions and responsibilities, the Court of Auditors continues to regret the absence of quantifiable target values and a strategic vision beyond 2030.
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