With the motto «Strengthening organic roots for a competitive and sustainable 2050’, the European Organic Congress 2025 brought together more than 200 representatives of the organic sector, policy makers, researchers and farmers from all over Europe from 25-27 June in Warsaw. Organised by IFOAM Organics Europe in collaboration with the Polish Chamber of Organic Food and the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Congress provided a framework for discussing the future of organic farming. In a context marked by climate change, the European green transition, the economic challenges of the sector or the change in the composition of the European Parliament that shifts priorities towards other sectors, Eduardo Cuoco, director of IFOAM Organics Europe, said at the opening of the meeting, «…reflects the urgent need to build a resilient and forward-looking organic sector».
Once again, Bio Eco Actual has been Media Partner of the Congress, being a loudspeaker of the sectoral debates and addressing crucial issues that will mark the course of the organic sector in the coming decades. Through a full programme of panels and workshops, the European Organic Congress has addressed the major related challenges.
The role of the organic sector in the Common Agricultural Policy 2027
The review of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) took centre stage. From the sector there is a need to establish joint lines to follow in order to have an important weight in the new agricultural strategy, which will be implemented from 2027. Herbert Dorfmann, from the Europarliament: AGRI committee, highlighted how the new CAP could become a real driving force for organic farming, if it is stipulated as a priority and linked to European environmental objectives.
Regulation and bureaucratic simplification
Evelyne Alcázar, director of international of Ecovalia, stated that it is essential to understand the regulation as a mechanism for framing good practices and not as a restrictive imposition . She also pointed out that it values the principles of agroecology and reinforces consumer confidence. Along the same lines, Luis Carazo Jiménez, from the European Commission, presented advances in the simplification of the organic regulation, seeking to make it easier for farmers to integrate and comply with standards without bureaucratic obstacles. He stressed that the way forward is simplification and not deregulation.
Resilience, competitiveness and sustainability are on the horizon for the green sector moving forward together with determination.
The generational renewal
If we are talking about the future, it is imperative to take into account young people, their approaches and their concerns, Josefien van Marlen of Nana Bio BV and Bio Jong stated emphatically. Underlining the essential role of youth in the transformation towards an innovative and sustainable food system, taking advantage of technologies and networks to disseminate agroecological principles and their benefits in terms of social and environmental .
Narratives to further increase market share
Addressing market dynamics was one of the major themes of the Congress, at as well as considering which narratives to promote in order to increase market share. The debate centred on whether it is better to bind the narrative to a single joint voice or whether should have plural voices representing the multiple stories and reasons for agroecology. Moving forward without losing nuances: having sectoral strength, but without neglecting the specificities. In this line, the importance of using science to support the narrative was emphasised, along with using technologies and their great capacity for dissemination, and promoting corporate transparency as a basis for trust.
In this direction, Jürn Sanders from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) discussed strategies to strengthen the profitability of organic farms. In addition, Ecocert experts Michel Reynaud and Jérémie Vidal discussed certification and youth leadership, while an international panel analysed global trends in the organic market
Simplification, not deregulation, is the way forward
The European Organic Congress 2025 has been the European reference point to face future challenges together. Resilience, competitiveness and sustainability are the horizon for the organic sector moving forward united and with determination. And above all, as they say in IFOAM Organics Europe: «Don’t panic, the future is organic!».
Author: Gemma Isern Castells, Political Scientist, Master’s degree in International Relations, Security and Developmen
Bio Eco Actual, International Organic Newspaper
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