European
Hearing on Organic Food and Farming - Towards a European Action
Plan
22 January 2004, Brussels
On 22 January 2004 the European
Commission held a 'European Hearing on Organic Food and
Farming - Towards a European Action Plan' in Brussels. The main
purpose of this hearing was to listen to the views of the widest
possible range of stakeholders, to experts in the agricultural,
environmental and consumer field and to hear from pilot
initiatives. Following this public hearing, the Commission is
preparing an Action Plan in the form of a Communication to the
European Council and Parliament, including a list of possible
actions to boost organic farming. The Brussels hearing provided the Commission with the most complete and appropriate
guidance from stakeholders with a view to drawing up this Action
Plan.
Over a 100 stakeholder organisations, Agricultural Ministers from
Member States, Acceding and Candidate Countries and the press
participated in this conference.
Welcome and introduction
Mr Joe Walsh, Minister for Agriculture and Food, Ireland [pdf]
"The future of organic farming"
Mr Franz Fischler, Member of the European Commission responsible
for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries
Session 1 -The place of organic farming in European agriculture
Introduction by Chairman Mr Corrado Pirzio-Biroli, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Franz Fischler [pdf]
"What do consumers expect from
organic farming?"
Robert Madelin, Director-General, DG Health and Consumer Protection
[pdf]
"What do organic farmers expect
from policy makers?"
Mr Francis Blake, president of IFOAM-EU [pdf]
"From farm supply to consumer
packages, challenges for the processing industry"
M. Claudio Checchia, Pasta GRANORO of Corato [pdf]
"How can we optimise the market?"
Mrs Maria Itziar Aguirre Jiménez, University of Sevilla [pdf]
[ppt]
Session 2 - The place of organic farming in the wider European society
Introduction by Chairman Mr Dirk Ahner, Deputy Director-General, DG Agriculture [pdf]
"Are the organic consumer labels
conveying the right message?"
Mr Toralf Richter, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)
[ppt]
"Marketing and distribution
concepts - the view of the supermarket"
Mr Tony Sullivan, Sainsbury's [pdf]
"Can the organic standards
continue to meet societal demands?"
Mr Raffaele Zanoli, University of Ancona [pdf] [ppt]
"Coexistence with GMOs and organic
seed production"
Mrs Birte Boelt, Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming
(DARCOF) [pdf]
Session 3 - Concluding session
Introduction by Chairman Mr José
Manuel Silva Rodriguez, Director-General, DG Agriculture [pdf
]
Reports from the morning sessions
by the two Chairmen:
Session 1 [ppt]
- Session 2 [ppt]
The key issues: Mr Nicolas Lampkin, University of Wales [ppt]
Closing remarks by Mr Franz Fischler
Press release(09/01/2004)
Programme of the conference [pdf]
For more information on the Action Plan please click on the logo:
