Policy support for organic farming in the European Union 2010-2020

Summary

Since 1994, and in some individual cases earlier, the European Union (EU) and its Member States have provided financial support to organic farming and food businesses, primarily through the agri-environmental and other rural development measures of the 2nd Pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This report builds on a series of similar earlier reports and updates the policy support data and descriptions for the decade 2010-2020, covering the two CAP programming periods 2007-2013 (represented by 2011 data) and, in more detail, the 2014-2020 period. A major focus is the support for conversion to and continuation (maintenance) of organic farming, implemented in all but one of the EU Member States. Comprehensive data has been compiled on payment rates, supported activities, eligibility conditions, uptake and public expenditure for these measures. In 2018, the then EU28 Member States supported organic farming on almost 5% of EU utilisable agricultural area (UAA), at an average cost of €207 per ha UAA, totalling over 1.8 billion €. The area supported represented 64% of the total certified organic land area in the EU. Support was also provided in various forms for training, advice, education, research, investments in farms and processing activities, consumer promotion and the development and implementation of EU regulations defining organic food and farming. In many countries, organic action plans have been implemented to enable better integration of these policy measures to meet defined national or regional needs, priorities and targets. As part of its Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies from 2020, the EU has set a target of 25% of UAA to be organic by 2030, with the expectation of enhanced policy support in the 2023-2027 CAP programming period and beyond.