The European organic sector receives recognition as an important player in the development of the European economy and driver of innovation. The granting of official “technology platform” status by the European Commission is reserved for outstanding European innovation platforms. According to the Commission’s new staff working document defining the strategy for European Technology Platforms, the ETP “must represent a sizeable proportion of a current or potential future market and be seen to contribute to the global value chain benefiting Europe.” As well, ETPs are explicitly mentioned as stakeholders to be consulted on EU research priorities in the context of the European Innovation Partnerships and play a considerable role in setting priorities for Horizon 2020.
“This is a great moment for organic in Europe,” Marco Schlüter, Head of the TP Organics secretariat. “The Commission’s recognition of TP Organics is a clear sign the organic sector has taken its rightful place in the discussions among ETPs defining European research priorities as well as shaping the European research and innovation landscape. It also acknowledges TP Organics unique involvement of civil society organizations alongside a strong organic business and academic community, paving the way to further involve citizens in the business decisions that ultimately concern them.”
“I would like to thank all who have contributed on the development of TP Organics, especially Agriculture Commissioner Cioloº and Paolo De Castro, Chair of Agriculture committee of the European Parliament who recognized the important contribution TP Organics can make to EU strategies from the beginning,” he concluded.
“The CAP reform, Horizon 2020 and the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability aim to increase the competitiveness, innovation and sustainability of Europe’s agricultural sector,” said Paolo De Castro, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament. “I am convinced that the organic sector has a big potential to contribute to these goals and therefore the recognition of TP Organics is crucial for coordinating the needs of the sector and ensuring proper dissemination and knowledge exchange.”
Susanne Padel, Principal Researcher and Team Leader Socio-Economics at ORC said: “This is very good news. After many years of working with TP organics, the European Commission has officially recognised it. TP organics lobbies for agricultural research with a systems perspective and working with agro-ecology.“
“We are very satisfied that European Commission have recognized the efforts of TP Organics in defining research and innovation needs of the organic food and farming sector,” stated Eduardo Cuoco, TP Organics Strategic Relations Manager. “Organic innovations can often be beneficial to the agri-food sector as a whole and having an official technology platform dedicated to organic will surely enable better knowledge transfer among actors, including on contributions to Innovation Union Strategy.”
TP Organics was initiated in 2007 by IFOAM EU and ISOFAR; IFOAM EU hosts the TP Organics secretariat.
