Last week, Ursula von der Leyen presented her Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024 – 2029 to Members of the European Parliament before her re-election as Commission President. Europe’s competitiveness and the need to improve food security are two key priorities for von der Leyen for the next EU legislative term.
In our recently released manifesto, ECOFI President Chiara Manoli said, “Now is the time to review and reinvigorate our approach to Europe’s agriculture and food sectors: a fresh vision is urgent!”. ECOFI welcomes President von der Leyen’s focus on building a sustainable and prosperous future for the EU by supporting businesses and acknowledgement of the importance of the EU’s farming and agricultural sector. Putting farmer competitiveness, agri-innovation, and food security at the heart of European agricultural policy is vital to reinvigorate the European agrifood sectors.
ECOFI believes that our members and their products can help EU farmers achieve these European priorities. Organic-based fertilising products – organic and organo-mineral fertilisers and organic soil improvers – can help:
♻️ The EU achieve its vision of a circular economy
🍎 Promote European food security
🚜 Support farmer competitiveness and livelihoods
🌱 Improve soil health and soil biodiversity
The European Circular Economy:
However, organic-based fertilisers are currently facing regulatory barriers and restricted access to the single market.
One of our key asks in our ECOFI manifesto is for the European institutions to put policy coherence – particularly in relation to the European circular economy – at the heart of their 2024 to 2029 priorities. We, therefore, warmly welcome von der Leyen’s commitment to making “speed, coherence and simplification” core to all of the Commission’s work. Policy incoherence is a major roadblock for ECOFI members wanting to place organic-based fertilising products from component materials such as animal by-products on the EU single market. A European circular economy will help reduce nutrient losses – and imports – while also helping create a future where European farmers can prosper within planetary boundaries. This is vital to building a sustainable, prosperous, and food secure future for Europe.
Deepening the Single Market:
It is vital that von der Leyen continue to work to complete the Single Market within the EU. Farmers need a wide selection of tools and products at their disposal to help them produce high-quality, nutritious food sustainably and competitively. Organic-based fertilisers and soil improvers are important tools for farmers, but regulatory challenges relating to the EU Fertilising Products Regulation restrict farmers’ access to and awareness of these products. European farmers deserve equal access to the products, tools, and services from across the EU designed to support their work. Completing the single market will benefit farmers and the businesses that produce organic-based fertilising products, many of which are SMEs, boosting European competitiveness and prosperity, particularly in rural areas where many of ECOFI’s members’ production capacity is based.
Investment and innovation on farms:
Alongside providing access to innovative and sustainable products, such as organo-mineral fertilisers and other organic-based fertilising products, the EU must also help incentivise farmers to use these same products. In particular, the EU must focus on providing farmers with education, advice, and opportunities for upskilling on how to use organic-based fertilising products and how they can work in complement to their existing plant nutrition practices. Helping farmers access and use new innovative tools and practices on their farms is vital to von der Leyen’s promise to “support the competitiveness of [the EU’s] entire food value chain”.
Check out our manifesto to learn more about ECOFI, organic-based fertilisers, soil improvers, and our key asks for the next EU legislative term!