The Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament has adopted in February an own initiative report by MEP Marie-Helene Aubert (Greens/EFA, FR) calling for more financial and institutional support for organic farming in Europe.
This follows the European Commission Communication: "European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming" (COM (2004) 415) issued in June 2004.
In December 2002 a working document entitled "Analysis of the possibility of a European Action Plan for organic food and farming" was prepared by the European Commission.
The paper analyses the state of play of the development of organic farming in Europe and lists possible elements for actions to be included in the final Action Plan.
In February 2003 an online consultation was launched, and a "Report on the results of the online consultation: Action Plan for organic food and farming" was published.
In June 2003, the European Parliament held a hearing on organic farming where the Action Plan was discussed.
On 22 January 2004, the Commission organised a hearing in Brussels. More than 100 organisations, representatives, including Agricultural Ministers, from Member States, Acceding and Candidate Countries, and agricultural journalists participated.
EURO COOP (European Community of Consumer Cooperatives) has issued a document with comments to the Action plan (attached to this article).
