Stakeholder participation and stakeholder protest:
On the planned revision of the EU Organic regulation
Alexander Zorn, Christian Eichert, Stephan Dabbert
Background and Objective
on the evaluation of the European Action Plan for Organic Food
and Farming. The concerns voiced by stakeholders on the
revision of the regulation were so strong that we consider it
appropriate to i) report them and ii) to put them into perspective
as a contribution to further discussion. This is the objective of
this poster.
In Germany organic stakeholders largely reject the draft of the
revised EU Organic regulation. This was evident at a workshop
held within the framework of the ORGAP project, which brought
together leading representatives of the organic sector in March
2006. The objective of the workshop was to develop indicators
Stakeholders‘ Views and Statements
In order to illustrate the concerns of stakeholders some of their
typical statements and arguments are presented. Some actors
in the sector have commented on the new draft regulation in
drastic terms, feeling that the sector is being disenfranchised,
“having its child taken away”. Other critical statements were:
“A sandbox is set up for the sector where it can engage with
itself; in the background, the EU or the Commission, is pursuing
different objectives.”
One key concern of the stakeholders is that the perceived balance between private sector and
government within organic food regulation is changed and power is being shifted towards government.
Indications for that according to the stakeholders are
- the change in decision procedure,
- the Annexes become Implementation Procedures with details not yet known,
- issues surrounding labeling (compulsory use of EU-ORGANIC or the EU organic logo, easier access to
private logos, difficulties to distinguish premium organic products in the market).
Another key concern is the fact, that the draft regulation was largely developed without consultation of
stakeholders. This poster concentrates on the last point. The accompanying paper addresses all issues.
“Complete rejection of the idea to revise the regulation.”
Good Governance
The involvement of all actors and stakeholders in the policymaking process (participation) is an important principle. As a
matter of principle, before the EU takes action, it should always
clarify the issue of subsidiarity, i.e. whether any action is
necessary at all and, if so, whether it should be taken at EU
level.
The concept of good governance can be helpful to judge the
revision process from a broader perspective. In 2001 the EU
Commission introduced a set of governance principles in a
white paper on “European Governance”. The objective of the
governance reform is to “open up policy-making to make it
more inclusive and accountable.”
Stakeholder Integration
The balance between private sector
and government with respect to the
regulation of the organic sector has
changed over time. Also stakeholder integration was different
during different stages.
The first version of the revision of
EU Organic regulation was largely
developed
without
direct
consultations with organic sector
associations. This is certainly one of
the reasons for the vehement
criticism
confronting
the
EU
Commission
in
spring
2006.
Furthermore, the provisions of the
new draft give the Commission
additional sway in future concerning
the
implementation
of
the
regulation.
Development of Organic Sector Regulation
historically
Sector
organised +
institutionalised
on nongovernmental
basis
privatesocial OF
mid1980s
1991/1999
Legal
definition of
OF on
national
level
national
dimension
of OF
EU Organic
Regulation
2092/91 +
1804/1999
since 1991
1999 - 2004
State action
and nongovernmental
initiatives to
advance the
EU organic
regulation
Preparatory
phase of
EU-Action
Plan
broad
cooperation
European
dimension between organic consultation
with the
sector and policy
of OF
sector
sphere
Sep-Dec 2005
Revision of
EU organic
regulation
rare
consultation
with the
sector
Spring 2006
Debate on
the revision
process
increasing
communication
OF = Organic Farming
Here the sector’s complaint is that opportunities for participation in future will continue to be
inadequate, even though the development of implementation provisions is of crucial importance to
everyday practice.
In the light of good governance, the principles of subsidiarity and stakeholder involvement in the revision of
the regulation have not yet
been adequately considered.
The international trend concerning
organic
sector
regulation is moving towards
increasing subsidiarity and
stakeholder integration (Australia and Canada are interesting
examples). Europe
should not shut its eyes to this
trend; further development of
its regulatory model for the
organic sector should be in
keeping with the above
mentioned principles.
Conclusions
The draft of the new regulation is a consequence of the
European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming. Thus the
very fact that a revision is planned should not come as a
surprise. Stakeholder involvement during a crucial phase of the
development of the draft regulation was not adequate.
There are indications that this is changing. The private sector
should use the chance to suggest changes to the regulation.
From the authors point of view the principles of subsidiarity and
balanced private-public partnership should be key principles in
the further revisions.
Contact & Sources
Institute for Farm Management (410a),
University of Hohenheim,
D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany
Contact: www.uni-hohenheim.de/i410a
Detailed information on sources and the full text of our manuscript are available on the Conference
homepage http://www.orgprints.org/joc2006.php?id=int_conf_joint2006_3
Our thanks go to the participants of the workshop; as authors of this poster, however, we alone and not
they are responsible for its contents.