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Agroecology Europe

AEEU

Agroecology Europe is a non-profit promoting the transition toward ecological farming systems.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Brigitte Misonne (Acting Director Agriculture and Rural Development)

2 Jul 2025 · EU Livestock Workstream

Meeting with Claire Bury (Deputy Director-General Health and Food Safety)

13 May 2025 · Visit of 3 farms implementing agro-ecological production systems

Response to Update of labelling obligations for plant protection products

3 Feb 2025

Agroecology Europe (AEEU) thanks the European Commission for being allowed to comment on the proposed draft EU regulation. AEEU agrees with the comments made by Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe).
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Meeting with Cristina Guarda (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Sept 2024 · Agricolture

Agroecology Europe Urges End to Nitrogen Derogations

8 Mar 2024
Topic — EU evaluation of legislation protecting water from agricultural nitrate pollution.
Message — The group advocates for ending derogations for livestock-heavy nations and mandating biological farming practices. They demand herd size reductions and a 50% cut in nutrient losses.12
Why — Stricter rules would accelerate the transition to the biological, agroecological farming models they represent.3
Impact — Intensive livestock producers in derogation-dependent countries would face mandatory herd reductions and regulatory costs.45
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Meeting with Lukas Visek (Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič)

17 Jan 2024 · Soil health

Meeting with Elena Montani (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius)

17 Jan 2024 · Soil health

Meeting with Martin Hojsík (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

4 Oct 2023 · Soil Health Law

Agroecology Europe demands holistic biodiversity metrics for green claims

13 Jul 2023
Topic — This consultation addresses rules for substantiating environmental claims through specific footprint methods.
Message — Agroecology Europe calls for rules to integrate positive externalities like biodiversity and animal welfare. They recommend adopting the OASIS indicator system and supporting Participatory Guarantee Systems to empower communities.12
Why — These changes would facilitate the scaling up of agroecology practices across the European Union.3
Impact — Consumers lose because current methods provide an incomplete picture of environmental credentials.4
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Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and European farmers and

27 Jun 2023 · Fit for 55

Meeting with Lukas Visek (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

23 Mar 2023 · Sustainable food systems

Meeting with Roberto Reig Rodrigo (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides)

23 Mar 2023 · Sustainable Food Systems

Meeting with Jan Huitema (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

21 Mar 2023 · Sustainable use of plant protection products

Meeting with Maria Angela Danzì (Member of the European Parliament)

21 Mar 2023 · Agroecology

Meeting with Franc Bogovič (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur for opinion)

21 Mar 2023 · Meeting on SUR regulation proposal

Meeting with Franc Bogovič (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur for opinion)

1 Mar 2023 · Meeting on SUR regulation proposal

Meeting with Benoît Biteau (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Oct 2022 · Mois de l'Agroécologie

Agroecology Europe urges systemic redesign to slash pesticide use

19 Sept 2022
Topic — This consultation revises EU rules to minimize the risks of pesticide use.
Message — The group wants agroecology legally defined as a primary solution for pest control. They demand independent advisory services to help farmers transition away from chemical inputs.12
Why — Official recognition would secure financial support and improve the economic performance of farms.34
Impact — Pesticide manufacturers lose influence as advisory services are decoupled from chemical sales.56
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Meeting with Sarah Wiener (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Stichting BirdLife Europe and

12 Jul 2022 · staff only: Sustainable Use Regulation, exchange of views on the Commission proposal

Meeting with Janez Lenarčič (Commissioner) and

30 Jun 2022 · Ukraine / global impact on food security. The Horn of Africa. Anticipatory action. Nexus. Multiannual funding and public-private partnerships.

Agroecology Europe urges systemic farming redesign for carbon certification

2 May 2022
Topic — The Commission is developing a regulatory framework for monitoring and certifying carbon removals.
Message — They recommend redesigning food systems following agroecological principles to restore soil carbon stocks. The group warns against a limited market-based approach that ignores the social and economic complexities of agriculture.12
Why — This framework would scale up agroecological practices by remunerating farmers for providing essential ecosystem services.3
Impact — Young farmers and newcomers may face higher land prices due to speculation from carbon markets.4
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Agroecology Europe Urges Shift to Mixed Crop-Livestock Farming

25 Apr 2022
Topic — EU consultation on an action plan to reduce nutrient pollution from agriculture.
Message — The organization calls for a redesign of food systems through the integration of livestock and crop production. They advocate for practices like crop rotation with legumes, reduced tillage, and diverse agroforestry.12
Why — Transitioning to agroecological systems would make farms more resilient and self-sufficient.34
Impact — Conventional high-input farms and intensive livestock producers face significant production cuts.56
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Response to Soil Health Law – protecting, sustainably managing and restoring EU soils

15 Mar 2022

Agroecology Europe, the European association promoting agroecology as a set of practices, a science and a movement across Europe, welcomes the Commission’s initiative to table a new legislative proposal on soil health by 2023 to help achieve having all soils in healthy condition by 2050 and to make protection, sustainable use and restoration of soils the norm. Agroecology Europe is calling upon the European Commission to adopt a strong EU harmonised legislative approach to address soil and land degradation based on agroecology principles and practices promoting sustainable soil management. Agroecology is a focal element for the establishment of a comprehensive EU legal framework for soil health. Agroecological practices including crop diversification, intercropping, agroforestry, the integration of crop and livestock systems, and soil management measures such as continuous soil coverage, reduced tillage and chemical inputs embrace the living nature of soils and consider soils as a living system (FAO, 2011). These practices constitute an alternative to industrial agriculture that considers soil as a mere support. The following are suggested paths of action that Agroecology Europe is submitting to the Commission in order to implement consistent policies for soil health, biodiversity maintenance and climate change mitigation. Such agroecological practices should be considered within the impact assessment as requirements to improve the sustainable use of soil: - Funding and implementing adapted training and income support schemes for European farmers to adopt agroecological practices to preserve soil health - Engage a virtuous territorial planning approach through the development of Biodistricts - Implement a farmer-friendly, participatory multi-criteria framework for soil health assessment and monitoring Agroecology Europe is at the disposal for any request from the Commission and would be pleased to support scientifically and technically in this process of elaboration of a legislative proposal on soil health.
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Response to Conversion to a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN)

2 Jul 2021

Agroecology Europe’s comments on the Roadmap on the Conversion of the FADN to a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN) Agroecology Europe, 2 July 2021 Agroecology Europe welcomes the Commission's initiative to set up a multidimensional, harmonized FSDN (Farm Sustainability Data Network) data collection system across the EU. The establishment of a transparent, operational and coherent data collection system seems to us to be a prerequisite to accompany the transition of European agri-food systems towards more sustainability and social equity since it will allow a higher quality monitoring, impact assessment, research and policy analysis. This is the reason why Agroecology Europe has developed a multidimensional evaluation system at farm and territorial levels, called OASIS (Original Agroecological Survey and Indicator System). The set of indicators chosen to evaluate the farming systems is classified in five dimensions: (i) production practices, (ii) economic viability, (iii) socio-political aspects (iv) environment and biodiversity impacts (v) climate and economic resilience. These five dimensions are divided into 15 themes. The dimensions are complementary, interconnected and are all at the same level of importance. They allow for a holistic understanding of the impacts of agri-food systems on natural resources, biodiversity and climate but also on socio-economical aspects. They highlight the multiple functions fulfilled by agriculture beyond the simple production of food. It is for this reason that we suggest that the FSDN system should be complemented by indicators that integrate the social and environmental dimensions on the basis of the OASIS framework. Themes are divided in criteria that are the main output of the framework. A criterion is assessed by one or several indicators. There is a total of 57 criteria that are evaluated in a farm. All the data necessary for evaluation are extracted from the interview of a trained evaluator with the farmer(s) and the farm workers. Depending on the size and complexity of the farm, the interviews can last from 1.5 hours to 3 hours. The FSDN is essential to adopt the shift to a performance-based CAP and to meet the objectives formulated in the Green Deal with the related ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘Biodiversity’ strategies. A more detailed brochure on the OASIS assessment system is currently being developed and will be published in September 2021. The OASIS framework could be a source of inspiration for the Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN). We are available for any request from the Commission and offer our expertise in this process of Conversion to a Farm Sustainability Data Network. In case of questions, you can contact Alain Peeters (alain.peeters@agroecology-europe.org, +32 475 905 914).
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Response to Sustainable use of pesticides – revision of the EU rules

23 Jul 2020

Agroecology Europe (AEEU) was created in 2016 and aims to analyse, design, develop and promote the transition towards agroecology-based farming and food systems in Europe and throughout the world. It intends to place agroecology high on the European agenda of sustainable development of farming and food systems. AEEU is an active member of the PAN Europe and therefore fully supports its contribution to the current consultation. AEEU also wonders why the European Commission considers making an impact assessment. We believe that there is neither any legal requirements of doing nor any logical reason of doing so. Besides, AEEU would like to reply more directly to 2 paragraphs of the Roadmap (Point C, Likely Economic Impacts) which, as drafted, are misleading: 1) “Stricter rules on the distribution and use of pesticides introduced in the EU could affect crop yield and food production in the EU (with associated possible trade implications), and have consequent effects on rural communities, producers and distributors of pesticides, manufacturers of pesticide application equipment and other agricultural inputs etc.” AEEU would like to emphasize that this should not be seen as problematic, but rather as a unique opportunity to re-orient agricultural and food systems in a more sustainable, environmentally-sound and just way. Farmers could develop innovative production systems based on agroecological principles and methods, with less impact on the environment and on their own health, and experience the benefits of new (e.g. shorter) supply chains retaining a higher share of added value. Manufacturers could shift their production from conventional pesticides to biopesticides, benefiting society as well as creating the market for new products, as the most far-sighted industry has already commenced to do. Advisors and service-providers could upgrade their role, develop their skills and offer new training opportunities and services to farmers. These may also include innovative food certification schemes, which would develop business and enforce consumers' trust in agricultural products and in farmers. Citizens could then benefit from safer food and raise their awareness that they could contribute to creating a better environment with their purchase behaviour. Supporting the transition towards agroecology would facilitate meeting the objectives of the SUD, and to fully acknowledge the importance of the 8 IPM principles set forth in Annex III. 2) “Complying with the Farm to Fork Strategy targets to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides could lower costs for farmers as pesticides represent a significant expense but may increase the overall cost of food production (including to consumers) if alternative methods (e.g. low-input farming) prove to negatively affect agricultural yields and production quality. AEEU wonders if the Commission bases this statement on serious research. From a farmer's perspective, a temporary increase of costs in the short-term could largely be compensated by increased added value of agroecological production, especially if farmers retain a larger share of this value by diversifying their commercialisation strategy. This perspective also neglects the evidence that the present pesticide-based food system is responsible for the ca. 30% food waste amount in Europe, which is unacceptable. Considering that organic agriculture is estimated to have yields 15-20% lower than conventional agriculture, even a hypothetical full conversion of EU agriculture to organic production would not create food shortages but rather contribute to decreased food wastage. It is important to stress that the agroecological transition implies a redesign of the whole food system, including retail and consumption. As such, strong effort should also be placed on information campaigns targeting consumers, making them aware of the importance of eating less food of higher quality, for their own health and for the planet.
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Response to EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy

20 Jan 2020

Commission Roadmap on Biodiversity post-2020 – Agroecology Europe Comments Agriculture represents >50% of land use in Europe. As such, mismanagement of agricultural systems can have severe consequences on the environment, strongly contributing to pollution and biodiversity loss. This is what happens with industrial agriculture, a production paradigm aiming to maximize yields by employing high levels of energy and external inputs in simplified systems paying little attention to the natural capital conservation. These systems can only be productive with massive use of inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, water), and are becoming increasingly vulnerable to perturbations like climate change and biological invasions just because they lack the self-regulation capacity given by biodiversity. Advocates of the productivist paradigm sustain that these problems will be solved by technological fixes, like new crop varieties developed through the application of novel genetic engineering techniques. However, the ecological theory forecasts that these fixes will eventually fail if mainstream agriculture will keep on promoting large-scale simplified systems. We then need a paradigm shift towards truly sustainable farming and food systems. These can only be based on the sustainable use of agrobiodiversity at each of the three levels identified by the CBD: genetic, species and habitat (ecosystem). This alternative paradigm already exists: its name is Agroecology. Application of agroecological principles and practices at the European scale will have a tremendous positive impact on environmental protection and biodiversity conservation, just because agriculture is the dominant land use type in our continent. Agroecology is the only paradigm that can reconcile agricultural production with biodiversity conservation and that can fully meet the ambition of the EC’s European Green Deal. Agroecology Europe has a high interest in contributing achieving the objective of preserving biodiversity for the 2021-2027 CAP. Indeed, as correctly stated by the European Commission in one of its factsheets published on the occasion of the new CAP proposal, “Soil is one of the most important natural resources, supplying essential nutrients, water, oxygen and support for plants, the soil provides many other essential services in terrestrial ecosystems” and further acknowledged that “Although it does not represent a problem that is uniformly felt throughout Europe, soil health raises a significant share of concerns. It absorbs all the consequences of human presence, both in terms of direct activities we perform on it (intensive cropping, irrigation, compaction, contamination building, etc.) and of weakening its ability to react to other natural forces, as in the case of water erosion. This is the reason why the contribution of policies to address soil protection becomes more and more relevant, based on an array of mandatory and voluntary measures in the new CAP proposal. Alongside with the uptake of integrated sustainable practices, such as agro-ecology, new technologies can bring an important help in this process as well, with precision farming enabling simultaneous improvements in both economic and environmental performance based on a higher degree of knowledge incorporated in best practices”. Agroecology Europe strongly supports the harmonization of EU policies on environmental protection, agriculture and land use planning. Too often, these policies have worked in isolation producing weak or contradictory results on biodiversity conservation, and creating tensions among conflicting resource uses. Agroecology works with nature and not against it, thus supporting it would be the best way to conserve biodiversity and achieve the multiple services that biodiversity can offer to a growing population for a healthy European economy and society. Please read our more detailed comments in the document attached. The Agroecology Europe Secretariat
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