Stakeholder assessment of agricultural policies regarding organic farming: synthesis results from 11 European countries

Summary

The accession of new countries to the EU has combined two very different patterns of organic farming development under a new and unique market and policy framework. An approach to policy learning and innovation that addresses the unique situation of the organic farming sector in the recently enlarged European Union is presented. Part of this effort in bringing together stakeholders of the organic farming and general agricultural policy sector within the EU, was a series of one day-workshops in 11 European countries (AT, DE, DK, CH, CZ, EE, HU, IT, PL, SI, UK) with the objective of formulating policy recommen¬dations for the development of the organic farming sector. Close personal contact of participants in these workshops provided a platform to exchange ideas and network at the national and transnational level. This contribution presents the synthesised results from all national workshops highlighting the current situation of organic farming policy in Europe and providing recommendations for future policy design.