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The European NGO IFOAM Organics Europe, representing organic farmers in the EU, has published a new report entitled ‘Prospects & Developments for Organic in National Cap Strategic Plans’. According to the report, financial support for organic farming from the CAP budget would have to be 3-5 times higher overall than at present (i.e., a total of 9-15% of expenditure) to meet the target of expanding organic farming to 25% of agricultural land in the EU by 2030. The 25% target by 2030 is achievable according to IFOAM, but some Member States would have to allocate up to 10 times more resources to organic farming in their strategic plans than now.

The European Commission published a draft budget for the EU's Promotion Policy for 2022 on 01/07/2021. The budget is €185.9 million (€3 million higher than in 2021), with €89 million earmarked for ‘simple programs’ and 87.4 million for ‘multi programmes’. It will significantly strengthen financial support for organic farming, in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Organic Farming Action Plan. The proposal will be discussed by the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on 27/09/2021, and the vote will be adopted on 15/10/2021. The European Commission is expected to adopt the proposal in November 2021.

On 06/07/2021, the Commission launched feedback on revision of the EU animal welfare legislation. The initiative aims to consider the results of recent studies and to extend the scope of animal welfare rules. The consultation is open until 03/08/2021, available here.

Last week, Austria expressed concerns about a possible fall in organic production prices following the planned strengthening of organic farming in the EU. As part of the new Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, the European Commission is proposing to expand the area of organic farming to 25% of total agricultural land, and the Action Plan for Organic Farming presented by the Commission this year should also help meet this goal. Austrian Minister of Agriculture Elisabeth Köstinger stated that Austria is already meeting the European target - currently, 26% of the land in Austria is organically farmed. However, due to the supported strengthening of the area of organic farming in other EU member states, the current prices could fall, which also plays a compensatory role for Austrian farmers for lower production.

On 06/07/2021, the European Commission published a short-term outlook for the market situation. The Commission expects cereal production to grow in 2021/22, with EU cereal production expected to reach 288.7 million tonnes (+ 3%), thanks to increased production of in soft and durum wheat and maize. EU oil and protein crop production could increase to 30.1 million tonnes (+ 9.5%) and 4.6 million tonnes (+ 6.7%). Sugar beet production in the EU is also expected to increase to around 110 million tonnes. An increase in production is also expected for olive oil, wine, tomatoes, peaches and nectarines or pork. On the contrary, the Commission expects a decline in beef and in poultry, mainly due to the occurrence of bird flu. Goat and mutton production should remain stable.
More information is available here.