After the Second World War, Europe was devastated and suffered from severe food shortages. In the Netherlands Sicco Mansholt was immediately appointed Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to avoid another famine. Its fundamental goal was to feed the world, through excellent cooperation within Europe that would guarantee global food supplies. Mansholt succeeded in implementing a common agricultural policy, although this had several disadvantages related to food surpluses. Subsequently, organic farming policies were implemented to protect consumer rights, although this sparked discontent among farmers across Europe. This report was written with the aim of providing a historical overview of European policies on organic farming. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Sicco Mansholt received the offer in 1945 to become Minister of Food Supply, Agriculture and Fisheries in the Netherlands, he had to arrange that the Dutch people had enough food to eat and avoided another famine in the winter time of 1944-1945. Mansholt's first years as minister were devoted to purchasing food from abroad. In 1948, Marshall Plan aid from the United States put an end to the period of shortage. Mansholt was working to establish an agricultural agreement intended to increase productivity and improve the lives of farmers in the Netherlands. He implemented a pricing scheme that offered farmers guaranteed rates for their produce. Additionally, Mansholt established minimum prices for the most essential agricultural products and implemented import taxes along with export support. 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 to prevent future food shortages and ensure its efficiency. The landscapes of small farms gave way to a more effective production machine through the modernization of technologies, rationalization and mechanization, spread through public information campaigns. These public information campaigns were launched by the government as a modernization project through the introduction of agricultural innovations and diversifying the lifestyle on farms and villages. Mansholt's goal was to build the integration of Europe through a common agricultural policy (CAP). Therefore, in 1950, Mansholt established a plan for a common market for agricultural production in Europe with a supranational governance structure. However, this plan proved to be unreasonable for the time being and was not realized. A few years later, in 1957, the European Economic Community was created with 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 in the European Commission in 1958, which gave him the opportunity to establish his plan for the Common Agricultural Policy a few years ago. The Treaty of Rome (Article 43) established political objectives which were incorporated into the CAP. First, the main objectives are the free movement of agricultural products between the six member states. This means allowing products to be bought and sold as freely as possible throughout the EEC. Secondly, agricultural prices mustbe at the same level in all six Member States, and this can be achieved through financial support measures by the European Community. Finally, trade with third world countries must be regulated as regards agricultural products through a common commercial policy. For example, tariffs and quotas on imports of certain goods from third countries were set to improve agricultural productivity. These regulations had a preparatory twelve-year transition period to allow for the harmonization of national agricultural and trade policies and to establish common trade rules for different agricultural groups. In the early years of the European Community, structural problems were exacerbated by many small farms producing inefficiently and with high production costs (Dinan, 2014, p.199). Therefore, in 1962 the CAP was implemented through the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). Firstly, the EAGGF was established to finance interventions on the internal market and export subsidies and secondly it was intended for the structural improvement of the agricultural sector. However, due to the fact that more goods have been organized according to the CAP regulation, the costs of the guarantee section have increased enormously. Additionally, there was an increase in production which led to huge amounts of surpluses due to continually improving techniques and management, as well as favorable weather conditions (Rickard, p. 409). The budget was used to store surpluses and to dispose of these stocks with the help of export and consumption subsidies. According to Cardiff University (p.3), the CAP has been accused of creating one of the most protectionist regimes in the world, subsidizing EU farmers and imposing import restrictions in this way, excluding competition from other regions. On the other hand, the high amount of 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 mentioned above, the growing production surpluses in the agricultural sector increased. In 1968 Sicco Mansholt recognized the need for a new sustainable reform of the CAP and for this he established 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 ​​a new education or retirement plan. Furthermore, the main objectives of the Mansholt Plan were to reduce price support, create larger and cheaper farms, reduce surpluses by eliminating five million hectares out of production, and finally improve marketing. Several factors, such as technological advances and price supports, have led to the intensification of EU agriculture, resulting in changes in crop yields and agricultural practices. Furthermore, this has raised great concern about environmental damage, for example, soil and water pollution and biodiversity loss due to the decline of natural habitats. In the 1980s there was a large increase in organic food and agriculture in Europe, this led the authorities to pay more attention to it. Higher prices were set and many beneficial aspects of the products were claimed, therefore the European Commission considered that control of this organic sector was necessary to ensure consumer protection. As an initial proposal a directive was established which would apply to each Member State in the way that works best for them. However, in 1991 it was implemented asEU regulation that applies to all member states in their national legislation (IFOAM, 2009, p. 8). This European regulation on organic farming provided a legal definition on organic farming, production standards on organic plant production and defined control and labeling requirements. These rules are important to protect consumers and organic farmers. In 1993 the Regulation on organic farming came into force, which also had an impact on non-European countries. The European Community is a large importer from non-EU countries, these exporters also had to comply with the new regulation on organic farming. This regulation has thus become a criterion for organic farming worldwide. According to IFOAM (2009), the pressure on organic farmers was increasing after the entry into force of the Regulation. There was a need for support through rural development provisions. Many countries had developed an action plan to develop and expand organic farming sectors. However, to achieve this goal at European level, the European Council invited the Commission to establish a European organic action plan. In June 2004 the Commission launched the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Agriculture. This was established to lay the foundation for political progress, furthermore, it provides key insight for the engagement of organic farming in the Common Agricultural Policy. An important recommendation in the organic farming action plan was to improve the community's organic farming principles, among other things by completing standards for areas that were not yet protected. This has led to the regulation of organic and the adoption of the new Council Regulation on organic production and labeling which will be revised in 2007. This new Regulation defines the aims, objectives and principles of organic farming and production, regulates the labeling and related control and import regulations. This regulation is a legislative act and describes whether products can be marketed as organic in the EU and whether it is allowed to use the organic logo (Jespersen & Campagnoni, ND, p. 1). After the 2007 revision, the Commission did not stop at updating the regulation, but continues to improve it. For example, in 2008/2009/2012 organic yeast, aquaculture and wine were implemented into the regulation. Furthermore, an agreement was concluded between the EU and the USA on organic standards in 2012. Finally, in March 2014 the European Commission presented a proposal for a new organic regulation. This will apply from January 2021. Over the years, various policy areas have been addressed in organic farming policy. First of all, according to Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007, the use of GMOs in organic production is prohibited, including in foods, phytosanitary feeds, fertilizers, animals, soil improvers, seeds, microorganisms and vegetative propagation material. Secondly, organic labeling is an important policy area within organic farming. Consumers of organic products must now recognize that the product they wish to purchase has been obtained in compliance with the standards set by the regulation. It is not allowed to use this label if the product is not produced in accordance with the regulation or for GMOs. Furthermore, to protect EU consumers, it is important to regulate trade with third world countries in organic products. Therefore, organic products from third world countries must comply with EU regulations, all operators must be.