After the Second World War, Europe was devastated and suffering from a serious food shortage. In the Netherlands, Sicco Mansholt was immediately appointed Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in order to prevent another famine. Its fundamental aim was to feed the world, through excellent cooperation within Europe which would guarantee global food supplies. Mansholt succeeded in implementing a common agricultural policy, although it had several drawbacks, notably food surpluses. Later, organic farming policies were implemented to protect consumer rights, although this caused discontent among farmers across Europe. This report is written with the aim of providing a historical overview of European policies on organic agriculture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essaySicco Mansholt received an offer in 1945 to become Minister of Food Supply, Agriculture and Fisheries in The Netherlands. He had to ensure that the Dutch people had enough food and avoided another famine like during the winter of 1944-1945. The first years that Mansholt worked as a minister were spent with the task of purchasing food from abroad. In 1948, aid from the Marshall Plan from the United States put an end to the famine. Mansholt was working to establish an agricultural agreement intended to increase productivity and improve the lives of farmers in the Netherlands. It implemented a pricing system providing farmers with guaranteed rates for their produce. In addition, Mansholt set minimum prices for the most essential agricultural products and he implemented taxes on imports as well as support for exports. However, government support was not intended to support unprofitable farms (Missel, p. 10). After World War II, Mansholt saw the need to modernize the agricultural sector in order to prevent future food shortages and ensure efficiency. Small farm landscapes have given way to a more efficient production machine through modernization of technologies, rationalization and mechanization, disseminated through public information campaigns. These public information campaigns were launched by the government as a modernization project through the introduction of agricultural innovations and the diversification of lifestyles on farms and villages. Mansholt's objective was to build European integration through a common agricultural policy (CAP). Therefore, in 1950, Mansholt put in place a plan for a common market for agricultural production in Europe with a supranational governance structure. However, this plan turned out to be unreasonable at the moment and was unsuccessful. A few years later, in 1957, the European Economic Community was created by the Treaty of Rome, which aimed at European integration and economic growth through trade. Furthermore, it created a common market based on the free movement of goods, services, people and goods (European Commission, ND). Mansholt was appointed Commissioner for Agriculture at the European Commission in 1958, which gave him the opportunity a few years ago to establish his plan for the Common Agricultural Policy. The Treaty of Rome (article 43) set political objectives which were integrated into the CAP. First of all, the main objectives are the free movement of agricultural products between the six member states. This means allowingproducts to be bought and sold as freely as possible throughout the EEC. Second, agricultural prices must be at the same level in all six member states, which can be achieved through financial support measures from the European Community. Finally, trade with third world countries must be regulated within agricultural products by a common commercial policy. For example, customs duties and quotas on imports of certain products from third countries have been set to improve agricultural productivity. This regulation had a twelve-year transition period to enable the harmonization of national agricultural and trade policies and to establish common trade regulations for several agricultural groups. In the early years of the European Community, structural problems were compounded by many small farms producing inefficient and high production costs (Dinan, 2014, p.199). Thus, in 1962, the CAP was implemented through the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGF). Firstly, the EAGGF was created to finance internal market interventions and export subsidies and, secondly, it was intended for structural improvements in agriculture. However, the costs of the guarantee section have increased significantly due to the increasing number of products organized under the CAP regulations. Furthermore, there was an increase in production which led to huge amounts of surpluses due to continued improvement in techniques and management, as well as favorable weather conditions (Rickard, p. 409) . The budget was used to store surpluses and to sell these stocks using export and consumption subsidies. According to Cardiff University (p. 3), Cape Town has been accused of creating one of the most protectionist regimes in the world by subsidizing EU farmers and thereby imposing restrictions on imports, preventing thus competition from other regions. On the other hand, the importance of the budget spent by the CAP has been criticized (2013). In 1970, the twelve-year transition period was approaching, although many difficulties had not yet been resolved, as previously mentioned the growing production surpluses in the agricultural sector. increase. In 1968, Sicco Mansholt recognized the need for further, lasting reform of the CAP and therefore created the Mansholt Plan. Mansholt said that to develop the CAP, around five million people would have to leave the agricultural sector. For these people, he presented the idea of ​​rehabilitation or a retirement plan. Furthermore, the main objectives of the Mansholt Plan were to reduce price support, create larger and more economically stable farms, reduce surpluses with the elimination of five million hectares out of production and finally improve marketing. Several factors such as technological progress and price support have led to the intensification of EU agriculture, leading to a change in crop yields and farming practices. Furthermore, this has caused great concern about environmental damage, for example soil and water pollution and loss of biodiversity due to the decline of natural habitats. In the 1980s, there was a sharp increase in organic food and farming in Europe, leading authorities to pay more attention to it. Higher prices were set and many beneficial aspects of the products were claimed. The European Commission therefore considered that it was necessary to control this organic sector to guarantee the protection ofconsumers. A directive was established as an initial proposal which would apply to each Member State in the way it suits them best. However, in 1991 it was implemented as an EU regulation that applies to all member states in their national law (IFOAM, 2009, p. 8). This European regulation on organic farming provided a legal definition of organic farming, production rules for organic crop production and defined requirements for control and labeling. These rules are important to protect consumers and organic farmers. In 1993, the organic farming regulation came into force, which also had an impact in countries outside Europe. The European Community is a large importer of products from outside the EU, and these exporters must also comply with the new organic farming regulation. This regulation has thus become a criterion for global organic farming. According to IFOAM (2009), the pressure on organic farmers increased after the regulation came into force. There is a need for support through rural development provisions. Many countries have developed an action plan to develop and expand the organic farming sectors. However, to achieve this at European level, the European Council asked the Commission to establish a European action plan for organic farming. In June 2004, the Commission launched the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming. This was created to lay the foundations for political development and also provides a key vision for the engagement of organic farming in the common agricultural policy. An important recommendation of the organic farming action plan was to improve the community's organic farming principles, among other things by completing the standards for areas that were not yet secure. This led to the adoption of the Organic Agriculture Regulation and the adoption of the new Council Regulation on organic production and labeling, which will be revised in 2007. This new regulation defines the goals, objectives and principles of organic agriculture and production, it regulates labeling and its control and import rules. This regulation is a legislative act and describes whether products can be marketed as organic in the EU and whether the use of the organic logo is permitted (Jespersen & Campagnoni, ND, p. 1). After the 2007 revision, the Commission has not only updated the regulation, it continues to improve it. For example, in 2008/2009/2012 organic yeast, aquaculture and wine were included in the regulation. Furthermore, in 2012, an agreement between the EU and the United States on organic standards was concluded. Finally, in March 2014, the European Commission proposed new organic regulations. This will apply from January 2021. Over the years, several policy areas have been addressed in organic agriculture policy. First of all, according to Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, the use of GMOs is prohibited in organic production, including in food, feed, fertilizers, animals, amendments soil, seeds, micro-organisms and vegetative propagation material. Second, organic labeling is an important policy area within organic agriculture. Consumers of organic products must recognize that the product they wish to purchase has been obtained in accordance with the set rules described in the regulation. It is not permitted to use this label if the product is not manufactured in accordance with the.