Source: European Union 2
Applications for the EU Organic Awards had to meet the following eligibility criteria:
a) The starting point to apply for one of the awards is the EU organic awards webpage, which links to the online application forms for each of the awards during the required period. Applications had to be submitted by Sunday 26 April 2026, 23:59:59 CEST (UTC+2) at the latest.
Only complete applications (all sections filled in) submitted via the online platform by the deadline were considered once the application period closed.
b) Applications had to be in one of the official EU languages.
c) Applicants were required to be legal or natural persons established or resident in one of the 27 Member States of the EU.
d) The project submitted had to be EU based and refer clearly to one of the 6 award categories/7 awards. The same project could not be submitted for several award categories/awards. Each applicant could only apply for one single award. The maximum number of applications per award was one.
e) The winners of the previous editions cannot re-apply for the 2026 edition. The non-winning finalists of the previous editions could re-apply for the 2026 edition.
f) The project was required to either have been fully implemented already or be in a sufficiently mature state so as to enable the jury to assess it (i.e. physical implementation should be advanced enough to demonstrate the achievement of the objectives).
g) Specific eligibility criteria for each award category:
- Best organic farmer (female) and Best organic farmer (male): Certified accordingly to the Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007;
- Best organic region/bio-district: A ‘bio-district’ was defined as a geographical area where farmers, the public, tourist operators, associations and public authorities enter into an agreement for the sustainable management of local resources, based on organic principles and practices. Organic region had no specific eligibility criteria;
- Best organic city: No specific eligibility criteria; in case the city operates one or more organic farms or stores, proof of their organic certification had to be provided. This proof had to be a valid certificate at the moment of submission;
- Best organic food processing SME: Enterprise certified according to Regulation (EU) 2018/848, and having 100% organic production and complying with the SME definition (an enterprise that employs fewer than 250 persons and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and /or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million). Cooperatives were understood as enterprises. Processing was understood as defined by Regulation (EU) No 852/2004;
- Best organic food retailers: Enterprise certified according to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 and having 100% organic certified references on sale (excluding non-food products or food products for which there is no organic availability) and complying with the SME definition (an enterprise that employs fewer than 250 persons and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million). Cooperatives were understood as enterprises;
- Best organic restaurant/food service: Enterprise having 100% organic certified references in their menu, where possible and complying with the SME definition (an enterprise that employs fewer than 250 persons and has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million). Cooperatives were understood as enterprises.