European Landowners' Organization: Agri & Food Policy Initiatives

Agricultural Policy & Sustainable Food Systems

In 2024, ELO actively participated in pivotal "Strategic Dialogue" initiatives to shape the future of agriculture and food policies. Through constructive contributions, ELO supported efforts to simplify CAP regulations, enhancing flexibility for farmers. Amid rising concerns around the Green Deal - particularly due to a lack of clarity regarding its implementation and financing - which led to policy withdrawals such as the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR). In response, ELO advocated for effective alternatives and action on biocontrols and New Genomic Techniques (NGTs).

Our strong advocacy for biocontrol resulted in joining the Biocontrol Coalition and promoting streamlined regulations to foster innovation. Additionally, ELO has been at the forefront of discussions on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), pushing for clear, balanced frameworks to empower European agriculture and support farmers effectively.

CAP Farm2Fork / F2F Food chain Farming methods Trade Bioeconomy

Latest views

April 2025

Position Paper

European agriculture urges the Commission to boost access to biocontrol and low-risk products within Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Brussels, April 11, In a joint letter to the European Commission, signed by the European Landowners Organization, COPA-COGECA and supported by the Biocontrol Coalition, CropLife Europe and IBMA, the aforementioned parties are urging immediate policy...

April 2025

Policy Summary

Key Insights from Jurgen Tack's Address at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference

Dr. Jurgen Tack, Secretary General of ELO, was on stage during the final conference of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture on April 1st. Jurgen surprised audience and fellow speakers during session two of the Annual Conference, call...

March 2025

Publication

Women for the Future of Agriculture 2025

Women are key contributors to the improvement of various issues in the areas of farming, agriculture, forestry and the environment. Yet their contribution and relevance of it is often overlooked. It is evident that agriculture is still a sector wh...

February 2025

Press Release

European Landowners’ Organization reacts to the European Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food

Brussels, Belgium, 19 February 2025 – The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) has issued its reaction to the European Commission’s Communication, A Vision for Agriculture and Food: Shaping together an attractive farming and agri-food s...

February 2025

Position Paper

Future EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework - Joint Letter from the agri-food chain

Brussels, Belgium, February 2025 – 28 organizations of the agri-food chain, including ELO, sent a letter concerning the Future EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework to President von der Leyen and Commissioner Serafin. Read the full letter...

March 2024

Position Paper

Reaction to EU Deforestation Regulation implementation guidance

In a joint effort with sister organisations, the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) voiced concerns about the EUDR by issuing two joint statements. ELO acknowledges the need to curb deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. Yet, the Eur...

February 2024

Publication

Manifesto - European Elections 2024

This manifesto outlines our priorities ahead of the European elections, urging policymakers to recognize the central role of landowners in shaping a prosperous and harmonious future for Europe. “We are living in challenging times, where int...

February 2024

Press Release

ELO Applauds Withdrawal of Flawed Plant Protection Proposal by European Commission

Brussels, February 8, 2024 — The announcement by President Ursula von der Leyen on the withdrawal of the Proposal for a Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (SUR) marks a significant turning point in European agricultural...

January 2024

Publication

The EU Gigabit Infrastructure Act should avoid UK’s Digital Economy Act mistakes

The changes made to the commission’s “EU Gigabit Infrastructure Act” initial proposal, which aims to bring down the cost of building telecom networks, are leading to concerns that these modifications may replicate the issues encoun...

December 2023

Publication

Taxation of Agricultural Land in Europe: A comparative Approach

Authors: Guillaume Sainteny (CS FRB), Louise Dupuis (FRB) Taxation of agricultural land wields considerable influence, not only on the intrinsic value of the land but also on agricultural practices, land use, urban planning, and environmental po...

November 2023

Press Release

“LIFE PollinAction” and “SPEAR® Bioinsecticide byVestaron” bring home the top prizes in the tenth edition of the European Bee Award

With a ceremony held at the European Parliament and hosted by MEP Franc Bogovič, the award recognized a scalable model for pollinators’ habitat restoration and recreation, and a novel peptide bioinsecticide. Brussels, 29th November 2023 – Th...

July 2023

Position Paper

The European Landowners' Organization's (ELO) Perspective on the Proposal for a Regulation on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs)

The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) welcomes the publication of the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed, and amending Directi...

July 2023

Position Paper

The new EU Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience: a data-driven approach towards healthy soils

Brussels, July 5, 2023 — The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) welcomes the commission’s proposal on the new soil monitoring and resilience directive and the recognition of European soils’ diversity, complexity and mystery, particu...

July 2023

Press Release

The European Landowners’ Organization acknowledges the significance of the "Food and Biodiversity Package" for land managers

Brussels, July 5, 2023 — The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) acknowledges the Commission’s “Food and Biodiversity Package”, which is an improvement from the previous package that included both the Nature Restoration Law and th...

May 2023

Position Paper

Need for an increased dialogue with united EU food chain to ensure a robust andenforceable Framework Legislation on Sustainable Food Systems – Request for a follow-upmeeting

The European agri-food chain is characterized by its strong interlinkages amongst all partners in the chain, its complexity, its resilience in a continued period of uncertainties, and its common goal to continue striving for a high level of food saf...

March 2023

Publication

Women for the Future of Agriculture 2023

Women are key contributors to the improvement of various issues in the areas of farming, agriculture, foresters and the environment. Yet their contribution and relevance of it is often overlooked.Recent data from Eurostat 2016 suggests that,...

January 2023

Publication

Agroforestry: Landscape Features in the new CAP

EURAF and ELO have collated the selection of Landscape Features made by Member States in their Strategic Plans for 2023-2027. All MS except FI and SE implement at least one of the options for hedges, trees in groups, trees in line, iso...

January 2023

Publication

Rethinking arable farming in a changing climate

Climate change is one of the challenges facing the arable farmer in Europe – and an important one. There is also political and social pressure to reduce mineral fertilisers and synthetic pesticides, reduce nitrogen emissions, create space ...

October 2022

Position Paper

ELO Position on Sustainable Food System Legislative Framework

The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) welcomes the publication of the public consultation on the Sustainable Food System legislative framework. It is important for landowners, farmers, producers and consumers alike to have a sustainable food...

June 2022

Position Paper

The Sustainable Use of PPPs Regulation raises serious concerns for the future of the European food system

The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) acknowledges that the proposal for the Regulation on Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) the Commission published today was a needed landmark in adapting chemical substance use to cur...

January 2022

Publication

Implications of the European Green Deal for agri-food trade with developing countries

The European Green Deal has as one of its objectives to build a more sustainable and healthier food system. Implementing the necessary measures to achieve this objective will have a significant impact on the competitiveness of EU producers a...

January 2021

Publication

Water in the circular economy policy development

The workshop on ‘Water in the Circular Economy policy development‘ is a joint event of Water Europe (WE), EASME and NextGen organised in the frame of Water Knowledge Europe 2021 (WKE2021), side event Water Projects Europe (WPE2021). The ...

January 2020

Publication

Access to Land and the Politics of Scale' Paper

Since 1989, a period of change unprecedented in eastern Europe since 1945 has combined with globalisation (to which the communist bloc had in large measure been the major obstacle) and a major shift in the economies of scale in farming. Not ...