At the start of today´s opening discussion on the subject, EU Agriculture & Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan made the following comments:
We´ve all come a long way since the Commission´s proposal was first presented and the co-legislators started their consideration of it. I hope, therefore, that today will be a landmark on the road to reforming the European organics sector.
But before we hear your interventions, let me recall the background to the Commission´s proposal. First of all, I think that we can all agree on the overall goal of the reform - organic agriculture has always been a sector committed to high standards and it needs to stay that way. It is our common objective to support the sector and to strengthen organic agriculture.
The Commission´s proposal, published in March 2014, sought to address shortcomings of the current system putting both producers´ and consumers´ concerns at the heart of the proposal.
The Council has worked very hard during numerous working groups, and meetings of the SCA and Council. A tremendous effort has been made to achieve results thanks to the great work of the Presidency.
The discussion in Riga at the beginning of June showed that you were only a small step away from a compromise.
You will also recall that I had committed to take a fresh look at the proposal, having close regard to your views. I carefully listened to your concerns about the proposal with a view to the maximum flexibility possible, while keeping our shared objectives of
- creating the conditions for the sector to grow;
- simplifying the rules for the operators; and
- reducing the risk of frauds and increase the consumer confidence into our EU logo.
Today, you have the opportunity to discuss a Presidency compromise that takes into account and to the greatest extent possible the various concerns expressed by all of you as well as stakeholders. Like any compromise, I´m sure that it does not make everybody perfectly happy, but I hope that we have now arrived at the point where you can give it the necessary political support, and build on the momentum created in Riga.
I am happy to offer my full support to the Presidency to achieve its ambition today."
Source: ag-press.eu, video.consilium.europa.eu
