The European Commission has recently published a proposal for a new Regulation on organic production and the labelling of organic products. The proposal aims at reviewing the current legal framework in order to address shortcomings of the existing system. Since the EU organic market has quadrupled in size over the last ten years, the Commission believes that the rules in force need to be updated and adjusted so that the sector can further develop and respond to future challenges. The proposal focuses on three main objectives: maintaining consumer confidence, maintaining producer confidence and making it easier for farmers to convert to organic farming. The aim is for organic farming to remain close to its principles and objectives so that public demands in terms of environment and quality are met.

 

The review of the political and legal framework for organic production is on the CoR Subsidiarity Work Programme 2014 and a CoR opinion on this initiative is currently being drafted and is scheduled to be adopted at the December 2014 Plenary.

 

The following questionnaire on subsidiarity-related issues is submitted to partners of the Subsidiarity Monitoring Network and members of the Subsidiarity Expert Group. The consultation runs until 26 May 2014 and the outcome will be forwarded to the rapporteur of the CoR opinion, Hester Maij (NL/EPP), and to the European Commission.