Organic production has been identified as playing a key role in achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork strategy, and the Biodiversity strategy. The Commission also adopted the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production in March 2021, including the launch of annual awards recognising excellence in the organic value chain.

For this third edition of the EU organic awards, any actor or institution along the organic value chain with a noteworthy project were encouraged to apply. Each project submitted had to contribute to the greater affordability and/or accessibility of organic products in the EU. Project promoters had to be established or residents in the EU. Applications had to be submitted in one of the official EU languages and the projects EU based.

The horizontal award criteria against which eligible applications were assessed by the EU Organic Awards jury were:

More details about the EU organic awards can be found online, as well as on organic farming in the EU.