The European Parliament today adopted, by 388 votes in favour, 248 against and 24 abstentions, the objection to the delegated act, which would have classified soy as a high indirect land-use change (ILUC) risk feedstock and phased out its contribution to the EU renewable energy targets by 2030.

Farm Europe welcomes this vote, which should not be read as a step back from the Union’s commitment to fight deforestation but as an opportunity to improve Europe’s approach to biofuels. The Parliament rejected today a methodology that would have applied a general principle of exclusion to soy, without differentiating the actual risk across diverse regional situations and without recognising the important contribution of EU-grown soy to the Union’s food and feed challenge.

Farm Europe fully supports the phasing out of feedstocks highly connected to deforestation, in particular palm oil. However, in Europe, soy is a multi-purpose crop, all value chains being equally important to the viability of this crop. Within EU biorefineries, the complementarity between biofuels, food and feed should be fully recognised, in particular in the context of the protein strategy presented by the European Commission on the 7th of July. Excluding soy from the biofuels market would have further undermined the business model for growing soy in the EU, at the very moment when the Union is seeking to strengthen, not weaken, its protein autonomy and strategic resilience.

Farm Europe now calls on the European Commission to come forward swiftly with a revised delegated act that maintains the phase-out of feedstocks for which a significant expansion into land with high carbon stock is observed, while introducing a robust, science-based, origin-differentiated assessment. Since soy is covered by the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), country benchmarking under that Regulation provides a ready-made basis: soy originating from countries classified as low deforestation risk — including soy cultivated in the EU under stringent Union environmental, climate and biodiversity standards and contributing to diversified rotations and soil fertility — should remain eligible for the purpose of RED sustainability compliance.

Farm Europe further reiterates its call for the creation of a Sustainable Biofuels category, deforestation-free and CAP-compliant, recognising the specificities of food and feed crop-based biofuels that meet the sustainability standards attached to the Common Agricultural Policy, in particular conditionality.

Today’s adoption by the European Commission of the EU Protein Plan, a plan for resilience, strategic autonomy and sustainability of the EU protein system, adopted together with the Livestock Strategy is a positive step forward. Farm Europe particularly welcomes the long awaited recognition, by the European Commission, of the role of “Made in Europe” Biofuels as a major strategic lever for both proteins and energy, those two value chains being inter-connected.  

The plan marks a long-awaited recognition that the Union’s dependence on imported high-protein feed is not merely an agricultural issue but a strategic vulnerability. In 2025, only 25.8% of the protein from oilseeds and protein crops used as feed in the EU was sourced domestically, leaving supply chains exposed to geopolitical and market shocks. Against this background, the plan sets a benchmark of 35% of EU-sourced high-protein feed by 2035 and is built on three pillars: expanding sustainable EU protein supply, improving the resilience, competitiveness and preparedness of the wider EU protein system, and strengthening value chains by incentivising demand and promoting local solutions and short supply chains.

The approach underpinning the plan is to be welcome as well : an incentive-based approach that offers farmers a profitable future in producing protein in Europe. However, concrete proposals shall be made in order to truly incentive high value protein supply chains as well as develop a true business model for carbon farming. 

In this context, Farm Europe underlines that the cap on EU food and feed crops used in biofuels limit the capacity to foster dual purposes – food and non food – value chains. Moving toward 10% home-grown biofuels would not only offer new market opportunities for farmers, but also help cutting transport emissions by more than 80 million tonnes per year, while allowing to reach 50 million tonnes of inter-connected high value protein products and therefore covering 75% of EU pure protein needs (instead of today’s 25%). 

Background 

A long awaited protein strategy that paves the way for a new dynamic of investments

1) EXPANDING EU PROTEIN SUPPLY

The plan places incentives for farmers at the heart of the transition. It encourages Member States to mobilise coupled income support, Agri-Environmental and Climate Actions and, as the new transition payments proposed under the future CAP, conceived as de-risking instruments covering the investment and adaptation costs of introducing protein crops into rotations. Farm Europe also welcomes the establishment of a dedicated protein crop sector under the CAP post-2027, with mandatory recognition of producer and interbranch organisations and sectoral interventions supporting investment, innovation, marketing, storage and risk management. With over EUR 190 million already invested in research and innovation on protein crops, strengthened knowledge transfer and advisory services will be essential to turn these investments into results on the ground.

The emphasis on legumes in rotation, which reduce fertiliser needs and greenhouse gas emissions through nitrogen fixation, ensures consistency with the Fertiliser Action Plan. Equally positive is the recognition of the role of grasslands, which contribute to carbon sequestration, reduce dependence on imported feed and help address land abandonment, a growing structural risk for European agriculture. The development of a certification methodology under the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF), covering practices that reduce N₂O emissions through the use of leguminous crops, should finally open access to carbon incentives for protein crop farmers.

2) CIRCULARITY AND BIOFUELS

The plan acknowledges that co-products from processed crops account for around 34% of the protein intake of EU livestock, and that co-products from EU energy applications alone represent 47.2% of all oilseed meals used in the Union. This is a decisive recognition of a reality Farm Europe has long highlighted: EU biofuel production and protein autonomy go hand in hand, as the domestic crushing of oilseeds delivers at the same time home-grown energy and high-quality feed protein, within integrated biorefineries anchored in rural territories.

The review of the Renewable Energy Directive should assess how to increase the production of home-grown sustainable biofuels, protein crops and feedstocks. Farm Europe calls on the Commission to translate this commitment into a stable and ambitious post-2030 framework for crop-based biofuels and integrated biorefineries, which remain the most immediate lever to reduce simultaneously the EU’s protein and energy dependencies. The up-coming energy omnibus should also be an opportunity to increase the potential of this value chains without waiting until 2030. 

3) RESILIENCE OF SUPPLY CHAINS: PRODUCE FIRST, DIVERSIFY SECOND

The plan’s clear-sighted assessment of the EU’s near-total dependency on imported vitamins and amino acids, concentrated in East Asia, calls for action. The announced study on these dependencies, the exploration of possibilities under the future European Competitiveness Fund to support EU production capacity for feed additives, the continued simplification of feed additive rules in the context of the Food and Feed Omnibus, and the attention given to market transparency, stockpiling and joint procurement within the European Food Security Crisis preparedness and response Mechanism are steps in the right direction.

On trade, the plan is explicit that the objective is not to replace one supplier with another, but to reduce overall dependency while diversifying sources. This logic must translate into a clear hierarchy: EU production first, diversification second. Ukraine was identified as the main partner for diversification, having doubled its production of high-protein crops in recent years. Conversely, consolidating reliance on Mercosur suppliers cannot be the answer to a dependency that the plan itself identifies as a strategic vulnerability.

We also welcome the commitment to better align production standards applying to imported products, in line with the principle of reciprocity, and the plan’s acknowledgement that the EU is among the most efficient global producers of animal protein in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output, so that reducing EU animal production would largely shift consumption, and emissions, towards more carbon-intensive imports. 

4) STIMULATING DEMAND AND EUROPEAN PREFERENCE

On the demand side, the plan mobilises origin labelling through marketing standards for protein crops, the integration of pulses into the upcoming “Buy European” campaign, public procurement based on a “best value” approach rewarding quality and sustainability efforts, and educational measures under the EU school scheme. Farm Europe particularly welcomes the emergence of a genuine European preference dimension, whose absence we regretted in the Livestock Strategy. The commitment to develop voluntary labels or optional reserved terms certifying that livestock products are produced exclusively using EU, national, regional or local feed will further help valorise local feed value chains.

5) GOVERNANCE AND MEANS

The credibility of the plan will ultimately depend on its implementation. The 35% objective is a benchmark rather than a binding target, and the plan is not accompanied by a dedicated budgetary programme: it relies on the mobilisation of existing and future instruments, namely the CAP post-2027, the National and Regional Partnership Plans and the European Competitiveness Fund, complemented by public-private partnerships with financial institutions. Progress will be monitored through annual protein dialogues with Member States and the market observatory for cereals, oilseeds and protein crops. Farm Europe regrets that the level of ambition is not matched by equally firm delivery mechanisms, and calls on Member States to make full use of the available tools, and on the Commission to ensure that the protein dialogues translate into measurable progress on the ground. The negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework will be the first test of this collective ambition.

Farm Europe welcomes today’s adoption by the European Commission of an EU strategy on livestock, setting out a long-awaited and much-needed long-term vision. 

The commitment shown by Commissioner Christophe Hansen is to be commended: this communication marks a major change of direction for the European Commission following years of negative messaging. It recognises that, to succeed, the European Union must act collectively and that the livestock sector is a key player in the ongoing battle for food sovereignty, sustainability and bioeconomy.

Resolutely turning its back on the missteps of the Farm to Fork strategy, it sets out the objective of strengthening the livestock sector across all regions of the European Union, both to meet the economic and social vitality requirements of these regions and to deliver on the sustainability goals that require the joint mobilisation of production, innovation and investment within a circular economy where the bioeconomy will be the key to success.

Farm Europe warmly welcomes the clear recognition that the current trend of decapitalisation must be reversed and profitability restored to ensure the competitiveness of Europe’s livestock value chain, with a clear focus on strengthening production through investment and innovation.

The five pillars of this strategy – resilience, competitiveness, sustainability, diversity and excellence – set out the conditions for a new pact between livestock farmers and the European Union. They provide the framework for the necessary realignment of European action and its implementation in the Member States, as well as for the relationship with consumers and the various links in the value chain.

This strategy must now become the guiding principle for the European Union with regard to its livestock sector, in all its diversity, by making full use of risk and crisis management tools (whether economic or health-related), by investing heavily in genetics, digitalisation, water, in reducing dependencies (particularly on proteins and fertilisers), in the circular economy and the bioeconomy, in building value region by region, and in greater recognition of the excellence of European meat, with a better return to farmers for the quality paid for by consumers.

Whilst the effectiveness of such a strategy will be judged by how it is implemented in practice, its value is undeniable. It marks the start of a revival for European livestock farming. 

The Commission must draw inspiration from this approach as well for the European cereals sector so that the European Union can regain its status as a world leader, which has been undermined over the last decade.

Background: 

The strategy is built on five pillars: resilience, competitiveness, sustainability, diversity and excellence.

1) RESILIENCE

The Commission highlights the importance of a coherent risk management and crisis management strategy in the sector, building on the EU facility and covering the multiple risks and shocks the sector is facing, including health threats. 

Another priority set out is to strengthen disease prevention and response. The idea is to improve current disease categorisation, better harmonise disease control across the EU, enhance preventive vaccination and develop further regionalisation and compartmentalisation. In this regard, the EU facility could be mobilised for prevention, surveillance as well as control and eradication. 

Investing more in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and innovation is essential, particularly by advancing digitalisation, water management, and genetics. Further efforts in research and innovation, including through Horizon Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), will be essential, as well as reducing strategic dependencies, and fostering circularity, particularly in the areas of proteins and fertilisers.

2) COMPETITIVENESS

The key objective of this second pillar is to close the investment gap, including via innovation and digitalisation, building on the future CAP and European Competitiveness Fund.

To increase legal certainty, at the end of 2025, the Commission made a proposal on acceleration of permit-granting procedures and a proposal on speeding up environmental assessment. Further stress-testing of the nature and water directives will consider further actions.

Sustainability is rightly recognised as a driver of competitiveness through greater circularity, reciprocity, and stronger controls on imports. Farm Europe welcomes the recognition that imports of products produced under lower standards not only place EU producers at a competitive disadvantage but also risk shifting, rather than reducing, global emissions. We also note positively the emphasis on well-calibrated tariff quotas, with volumes aligned to EU market conditions, and on the inclusion of automatic safeguard clauses in certain trade agreements to provide an additional layer of protection for EU producers.

The simplification agenda will continue via revision of hygiene rules, regulations related to slaughterhouses as well as a more innovation-friendly feed additives framework. The revision of Animal By-products Regulation is confirmed. 

3) SUSTAINABILITY

The most politically sensitive issue remains the European Commission’s follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative “End the Cage Age”. By the end of 2026, the Commission intends to present a targeted revision of the animal welfare legislation for laying hens and broilers, focusing on the phasing-out of cages, the use of practical on-farm welfare indicators, the end of the systematic killing of male chicks, and equivalent requirements for imports. A second proposal, expected by the second quarter of 2027, will address pig welfare, including the transition from crates to pen systems. 

On climate, the strategy confirms several initiatives to better recognise and reward agricultural mitigation efforts. These include the development of EU metrics that better reflect the specificities of biogenic carbon cycles, the establishment of the EU Compass framework to incentivise environmental performance. 

The forthcoming evaluation of the Nitrates Directive will be followed by work with Member States to identify best practices and simplification opportunities for nutrient management, including fertilisation rules, record-keeping requirements and support for small farms. The Commission is also assessing the possible extension of the RENURE framework to certain manure-based liquid digestates, subject to appropriate environmental safeguards, with a preliminary assessment expected in the second quarter of 2026.

Finally, in line with the Fertilisers Action Plan, the strategy recognises the diversity of farming systems, promotes nutrient transfers between surplus and deficit regions, and further acknowledges the growing role of farmers as both food and energy producers.

4) DIVERSITY

The strategy appropriately acknowledges the growing risk of land abandonment and announces work under the EU Land Observatory to better address this challenge. It also includes a roadmap on slaughterhouses, covering both fixed and mobile facilities, to support local livestock production. Furthermore, it recognises the important role of support for less-favoured areas and coupled payments in maintaining agricultural activity in regions facing structural constraints.

5) EXCELLENCE

We welcome the strategy’s recognition that quality should not be viewed as exclusive to specific market segments. Instead, it rightly acknowledges that quality is relevant across all market segments and that all production models contribute to the European Model of Production.

This approach is reflected in the commitment to better reward quality throughout the value chain. In particular, the strategy announces work on strengthening marketing standards, expanding the use of optional quality terms to promote EU excellence, and developing initiatives to better reward meat quality, including through innovative carcass classification systems.

We also support the emphasis placed on strengthening the link between EU livestock production and its territorial anchorage, notably through dedicated communication and promotion initiatives. In addition, the strategy foresees reinforcing EU quality schemes, including Geographical Indications (GIs) and organic production, through a review of the relevant action plans.

Farm Europe calls on the European Commission to unlock sustainable and deforestation-free EU crops in the post-2030 Renewable Energy Directive

Over the last 25 years, the European Union has shifted barely 10% of its transport energy away from fossil fuels. It now intends to deliver the remaining 90% within the next 25 — a pace of change roughly twelve times faster than anything achieved so far. Invited by DG ENER to contribute to the preparatory work on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) post-2030, Farm Europe argues that this ambition cannot be met without mobilising a resource the EU has long overlooked: its own farmers, as energy providers.

“Europe does not have to choose between its climate, its food security and its farmers,” said Luc Vernet, Secretary General of Farm Europe. “But it has to choose between agriculture and land abandonment here in Europe and between sustainable, deforestation-free EU crops and highly deforesting and often mislabeled imports.”

Part of the EU’s reported progress has, in fact, been on paper — through statistical multipliers and fraudulent imports. Between 2017 and 2023, imports of so-called “advanced” Annex IX biofuels from China rose sevenfold, from 400,000 to some 3 million tonnes — a large share suspected of being mislabeled. This large-scale fraud has undermined EU farmers, refineries and investment alike, and distorted the picture of what has really been achieved.

Farm Europe therefore asks that the cap on food and feed crops be raised, step by step via a targeted revision of RED III and the future RED IV, to 10% — with a clear focus on deforestation-free crops that meet the sustainability standards already embedded in the Common Agricultural Policy. CAP conditionality can serve as a positive eligibility criterion.

Beyond boosting conventional and advanced biofuels, both liquid and gaseous, a 10% objective would generate an additional 30 to 35 million tonnes of protein-rich co-products — cutting the EU’s dependence on imported products linked to deforestation, strengthening European protein sovereignty, and providing the industrial base that advanced biofuels need to finally scale.

Over the past decade the EU’s cereal area has contracted by around 5 million hectares, and the Joint Research Centre estimates that some 20 million hectares are at risk of abandonment. The real choice in Europe today is not food versus fuel, but productive land versus abandonment, with the risk for the EU to increase further its dependencies. Meeting the EU’s climate and bioeconomy ambitions will require roughly 260 million additional tonnes of agricultural biomass by 2050 — about a 25% increase — achievable through innovation and by bringing land back into sustainable production.

Farm Europe also calls for the ongoing revision of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/996 to become a building block against Annex IX fraud, and to define intermediate crops in a way that is relevant for EU farmers — clearly excluding tropical and sub-tropical areas from its scope, as long as agro-climatic conditions do not allow a sound definition of intermediate crops that fit with regions producing structurally more than one crop.

“The question is no longer whether European agriculture and EU biorefineries can contribute to the transition,” Luc Vernet concluded. “It is whether the regulatory framework will finally create the conditions for them to do so.” 

Today, Ireland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the period until 31 December 2026. Under the slogan “Strength with Unity,” the Irish Presidency is committed to advancing European competitiveness, upholding European values, and strengthening European security.

While welcoming the Presidency’s commitment to a common, stable and fair Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Farm Europe calls on the Irish Presidency to provide the political leadership needed to translate these ambitions into concrete decisions and avoid a fragmentation and inconsistencies of the policies and regulatory work streams. 

Multiannual Financial Framework 

The Irish Presidency commits to work intensively to advance agreement among Member States on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the 2028–2034 period, laying the financial foundations for the Union’s policies and priorities in the decade ahead.

Discussions on the overall framework will be taken forward in the General Affairs Council, while sectoral components, including the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), will be progressed in the relevant Council formations.

The Presidency aims to hand over a sufficiently advanced negotiating box to the President of the European Council, enabling EU leaders to take the necessary decisions on the Union’s future financing before the end of 2026.

Post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

The Irish Presidency wants to place particular emphasis on food security, competitiveness, simplification, sustainability, and generational renewal as key priorities in shaping the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy.

Work on the future framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be a central focus of the Irish Presidency. In this context, Farm Europe recalls that European agriculture requires a structurally sound, genuinely common and strategically coherent CAP. Such a policy must simultaneously ensure agricultural sovereignty and environmental progress, safeguard viable agricultural structures while facilitating generational renewal, and provide European farmers with the certainty and investment tools they need for the future. 

A CAP without genuinely common conditions and clear baselines risks undermining its own coherence and the internal market. A clear co-financing rate should therefore be the norm rather than the exception. Agricultural conditionality should constitute the baseline for EU-level requirements instead of a multi-speed farm stewardship that would create 27 or more cross compliances. In addition, a fully EU-funded environmental and production-oriented measure is necessary to ensure the financial credibility and balanced implementation of the policy across all Member States.

The Role of Livestock in European Agriculture

While the European Commission will present the livestock strategy in the first days of the Irish Presidency, Dublin wants to stress the importance of livestock production, taking into account the diversity of production systems and regional conditions across the Union. It will steer the discussions in the Council to explore how livestock farming can better contribute to economic and social objectives while addressing environmental and climate-related challenges.

With regard to animal welfare, the Irish Presidency will emphasise that rules must be firmly grounded in scientific and technical evidence, as well as informed by the experience and best practices of Member States.

Specifically regarding the animal transport file, five meetings have been scheduled on this issue, compared with three under the Cypriot Presidency. As a result, the pace of negotiations is expected to accelerate from July onwards. The Presidency’s immediate objective is to conclude the review of Chapter I, identify the articles and annexes for which the text has been finalized, and hold bilateral meetings to facilitate the continuation of the negotiations.

Environmental, Climate and Water Policy

The Irish Presidency is committed to the EU’s ambitious agenda to fight climate change and to shift to a climate-neutral economy by 2050. In 2026, the Commission will propose several legislative amendments and initiatives on climate law, on which the Presidency will work.

The key priorities announced in its programme are progress on the review of the ETS1 Directive, the revision of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and the agreement and finalisation of strengthened ETS1 and ETS2 safeguards. The Presidency will also start discussions on the implementation package of the EU-wide 2040 emissions reduction target.

Farm Europe notes that the revision of CBAM and the extension of its scope have direct implications for agricultural inputs, in particular fertilisers, and will therefore require a careful assessment of impacts on the competitiveness of European farmers and urgent revision of the ETS-CBAM approach for fertilisers, taking into account better the specificities of agriculture and its potential contribution and challenges in the climate agenda. 

The Presidency also wants to support the development of high-integrity frameworks for private investment in carbon removals and nature restoration. In order to bridge the biodiversity finance gap, a key focus of the Irish Presidency is to shape the debate on biodiversity credits and developing principles of ecological integrity, additionality, social safeguards and permanence to prevent greenwashing. This aspect has direct relevance for farmers given its links to carbon farming and the CRCF framework.

The Irish Presidency will work to strengthen freshwater resilience across the EU, supporting the implementation of the European Water Resilience Strategy. Key areas of focus will be advancing the three main objectives of the strategy: restoring and protecting the natural water cycle, building a water-smart economy, and security of supply.

As part of its broader approach, the Presidency will promote deeper integration of biodiversity, climate and water policies to amplify cross-sectoral benefits and strengthen EU resilience, recognising the need for sustainable and equitable management and protection of shared marine and freshwater resources.

The Presidency will also steer preparations for Council Conclusions ahead of the UN Water Conference. The conference will build on the past ten years of work on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation and will look to accelerate the delivery of tangible outcomes during the remaining years of the 2030 agenda.

Bioeconomy, Energy & Transport Policy

Within the agricultural Council, the Irish Presidency will discuss the bioeconomy strategy, reflecting its potential to support diversification, add value to primary production, and contribute to climate and environmental sustainability. The Presidency will host the Global Bioeconomy Summit in October 2026, which will provide an opportunity to showcase European progress and initiatives on a global stage and to support international partnership for a sustainable bioeconomy. The Circular Economy Act will build on the second Circular Economy Action Plan and broaden measures accelerating the EU’s transition to a circular, low-waste and climate-neutral economy.

European energy markets have in recent years repeatedly proven to be directly dependent on external forces, and European citizens have repeatedly paid the price. The Irish Presidency wants to focus first and foremost on electrification, but believes that only through the unrelenting deployment of indigenous renewable and clean energy, supported by robust grids and a common ambition to electrify, will European countries, businesses and citizens achieve true energy security. A stronger focus on agricultural-based solutions would be welcome. 

On the AccelerateEU initiative and the Electrification Action Plan, and reflecting the One Europe, One Market Roadmap, the Irish Presidency will advance the EU’s energy agenda with the aim of delivering the European Grids Package and progressing the proposal on Energy Taxation. 

Through the work of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council, the Irish Presidency will prioritise progress on discussions on Clean Corporate Vehicles. Alongside the proposals relating to CO2 Emissions Standards for Cars and Vans and the revision of the Emissions Trading System for Aviation and Maritime, which will be discussed in the Environment Council. The Presidency will promote the EU position at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) with a view to the positive adoption and implementation of the IMO’s Net Zero Framework. 

Farm Europe believes that the Irish Presidency has a great opportunity to shape the future of European agriculture by restoring an ambitious common policy and overcoming the structural challenges of the initial proposal of the European Commission related to the CAP. 

Farm Europe and Eat Europe have called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to reverse the proposed 50% reduction in the 2027 budget for the EU agricultural promotion policy, warning that the cut would undermine the competitiveness of European farmers and agri-food businesses at a time of growing global uncertainty.

In a joint letter sent to the Commission, the organisations argue that reducing the budget from €205 million to €112 million sends the wrong signal when the EU is promoting strategic autonomy and encouraging consumers around the world to “Buy European”. They stress that promotion policy is not a cost, but a strategic investment that generates value for farmers, rural communities and the wider European economy.

“European agricultural promotion delivers clear economic returns,” said Yves Madre, President of Farm Europe. “It supports farmers’ incomes, strengthens the EU’s quality schemes and geographical indications, opens new markets and contributes to Europe’s agri-food trade surplus. Cutting this budget is economically and strategically short-sighted.“

The organisations also criticise the lack of consistency in recent budget decisions, arguing that repeated changes to funding levels create uncertainty for businesses and Member States and make long-term investment and planning increasingly difficult. They note that, despite announcements of record budgets, the funding effectively available to promotion programmes has already declined in recent years.

“The EU cannot promote European products with one hand while dismantling the very policy designed to support them with the other,” said Luigi Scordamaglia, President of Eat Europe. “At a time of increasing geopolitical tensions, trade barriers and unfair competition, European producers need stronger – not weaker – support to reach consumers both inside and outside the EU.“

Farm Europe and Eat Europe are calling on the European Commission to restore the 2027 promotion budget to a level that reflects the strategic importance of the policy and ensure stable and predictable funding for promotion programmes.

The organisations conclude that if the European Union is serious about strengthening its agricultural sector and encouraging consumers to choose European products, its political ambitions must be matched by adequate financial resources and avoid taking money away with one hand and returning part of it with the other.

Farm Europe intervened today at the ComAgri Public Hearing on a new funding structure for the CAP, reflecting on the consequences for farmers and national authorities. Against this backdrop, our Secretary General, Luc Vernet, welcomed the political ambition, widely shared within the European Parliament, in favour of an autonomous, common and well-funded agricultural policy. But translating this ambition into practice is complex and requires unprecedented coordination and political will.

While on the Council side, between Coreper and the SCA, certain key parameters — notably the definition of farmer — are not consistent, the most effective way to avoid contradicting approaches is to secure the autonomy of the CAP. A first step has been taken by the European Parliament, by transferring most of the key articles into the CAP regulation. But we must go further by creating an autonomous plan — not a simple chapter — with its own rules of design, validation and its performance framework. 

Autonomous performance indicators should be preserved. Sustainable and efficient agricultural production is an objective in itself; it should be recognised as a pillar of performance and placed at the heart of the CAP as a fundamental and cross-cutting principle, in its very first article.

The “C” for “Common” risks, today, being replaced by the “C” for internal Competition. At high speed, the single market is turning into a battlefield, when agriculture should be a lever of collective sovereignty and geopolitical influence.

To avoid this, on the environmental side, a catalogue of measures is not enough: it does not avoid the risk of undermining the common rules. Rightly, Parliament calls for a clear baseline — but it must be given real, concrete legal force. 

Considerable work to simplify conditionality has been carried out over the past two years under the impetus of Commissioner Hansen and of the agricultural committee of the European Parliament. It should not be abandoned in favour of a “farm stewardship” which is not the end of conditionality, but a multi-speed conditionality. The diversity of our agricultures is not a matter of national flags: it exists everywhere, within our territories. It is no easier to reflect it at national level than at European level.

The “common” must also apply to the question of co-financing. Farm Europe regrets the absence of 100 % EU-funded measures for the environment and climate. And we also deplore the “at least 30 %” rule with no upper limit. To secure a level playing field, we call for a clear rule: 30 % co-financing, coupled to a “grandfathering” clause guaranteeing, in euros, the preservation of the current level to EU farmers.

On targeting “those who need it most” — an interesting but delicate concept — it is better to be factual rather than pointing out individual beneficiaries. Farm Europe has analysed, on the basis of paying-agency data, the impact on 5.5 million beneficiaries. Capping concerns, at most, 1 % of the CAP budget. Without even taking employment into account, it could seriously harm the viability of certain farms. As for degressivity, it would weigh above all on medium-sized farms, the backbone of our production: nearly 40 % are livestock farms, 35 % arable, and more than a quarter are in less-favoured areas. As in the previous reforms, other tools should be explored to guarantee the leverage effect of the CAP and to ensure that public money delivers tangible outcomes in terms of strategic autonomy and sustainability.

Parliament’s draft report reinstates a first pillar of non-cofinanced measures — basic support, coupled support — which are very important — and small farms — distinct from a cofinanced second pillar of rural development. What belongs to the common core of European policy must be 100 % funded by the Union.

Farm Europe asks that this logic be taken to its conclusion by extending it to climate and the environment. We propose renewed eco-schemes — “efficiency schemes” — which should fall under this first pillar: 100 % funded by the EU budget, written into a dedicated article. By placing competitiveness, production and sustainability on an equal footing, they would send the signal that economic performance and the environment do not stand in opposition.

The environment and climate are collective challenges; systematically co-financing these tools would seriously weaken the current programmes. Their funding risks falling by more than 60 %. Member States would be forced to arbitrate between optimising their co-financing, the environment, investment and risk management. Bad news for agriculture and for the credibility of the CAP.

Likewise, the €130-240 range for the DABIS is not adequate, since it does not integrate the current eco-schemes.

This same logic of common sovereignty applies to coupled support, a key tool for our livestock sector and our protein autonomy: we defend the 20 % ceiling, raised by 5 points, proposed by the Commission. It matches the ambition of preserving a capacity to produce across all territories, even where production costs are higher. The territorial dimension of the CAP should not be weakened but, on the contrary, strengthened.

Farm Europe also calls for giving every farmer, in every Member State, access to risk- and crisis-management tools. This should be the choice of farmers, rather than that of Member States. This direction is directly connected to an investment oriented CAP. 

These are a few key levers on which a balance between national flexibilities and clear European orientations would prevent the CAP from becoming an à-la-carte programme — preserving its political dimension, preserving the political role of the European Parliament in its capacity to steer a genuine project of shared agricultural sovereignty at European level, for efficient and competitive production.

At a pivotal moment for both the European Union and Ukraine, Farm Europe and the Association “Ukrainian Agribusiness Club” (UCAB) held today an internal workshop bringing together members of both organisations to discuss the role of agriculture and bioeconomy in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, strategic autonomy and climate ambitions.

Held in the margins of the EU–Ukraine Reconstruction Summit, the workshop comes at a particularly timely moment as discussions on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union advance, and the European Union working on revising the Renewable Energy Directive and implementing a new bioeconomy strategy. Participants agreed on the importance of fostering an open dialogue to address both opportunities and concerns.

Opening the discussion, Dacian Cioloș, former Prime Minister of Romania, highlighted the need to build a shared vision for agriculture in an enlarged European Union.

During the workshop, Luc Vernet, Secretary General of Farm Europe, presented Farm Europe’s agricultural production radars and biomass flow analysis, illustrating the diversity of agricultural production across Europe and the strategic role of biomass in delivering food, feed, renewable energy, biomaterials and climate solutions, especially to lay down the conditions for a carbon neutral economy, which is to a large extent an agri-based bioeconomy.

Discussions emphasized that agriculture must be recognised as a central pillar of the European bioeconomy to achieve climate neutrality, energy security and food security objectives, as it is and should remain a central pillar of vitality of all rural regions. The European Union shall lay down the conditions for unlocking the potential of all regions, including those with lower agronomic potential and higher production costs. Unlocking the potential of bioeconomy, fostering investments in EU farms and unleashing industrial investments will be key to overcome land abandonment and to avoid increasing dependencies on future bioeconomy value chains. 

The workshop marked the first step in a broader Farm Europe–UCAB structured dialogue. Its conclusions will help shape future reflections on Ukraine’s EU negociation process and the future of a competitive and sustainable European agricultural model.

Weak Committee on public health’s outcome fails to deliver needed ambition.

Following the vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health, Eat Europe and Farm Europe strongly distance themselves from the adopted report, arguing that it falls far short of the ambition and coherence needed.

We welcomed the EU Cardiovascular Health Plan presented by Commissioner Várhelyi in December 2025 and have followed the work of the Committee in the expectation that it would strengthen the approach put forward by the European Commission. However, the final text fails to meet this objective and represents a missed opportunity.

Concerns are particularly strong on Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs), where the adopted text remains limited and fails to reflect the growing scientific and policy attention to their role in non-communicable diseases. In line with positions previously expressed in communications by Eat Europe and Farm Europe, we believe a more explicit and science-based approach to UPFs is needed to properly address dietary risk factors for cardiovascular health. 

While we acknowledge a few positive elements – such as the recognition that the main risk factor is alcohol abuse rather than consumption per se, and the emphasis on nutrition education, balanced procurement policies, and the recognition of the role of red meat within a balanced diet – we consider these insufficient to address the broader weaknesses of the report.

The text also introduces an unbalanced framing of dietary patterns, weakens ambition on energy drinks, and reopens controversial debates on front-of-pack labelling, including approaches that risk indirectly reviving wrong and misleading logic for which a few multinational corporations and member states were lobbying fiercely. Concerns remain regarding additional labelling requirements and warning labels for the wine sector, which risk creating disproportionate burdens without clear public health gains.

Overall, the adopted report reflects a lowest-common-denominator compromise that lacks strategic clarity and does not provide sufficiently effective guidance for cardiovascular disease prevention and healthy lifestyle promotion.

We will continue to work with Members of the European Parliament ahead of the plenary vote to strengthen the text and ensure a more evidence-based and courageous approach to cardiovascular health policy.

In a letter sent today to Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné ahead of the forthcoming Biotech Act II, and to the Members of the EP committee on Public Health after the publication of the Draft Report on the Biotech Act I, Eat Europe and Farm Europe welcomed the European Commission’s ambition to strengthen Europe’s biotechnology sector while urging policymakers to focus support on those applications that can deliver tangible benefits for society, the environment, and the European economy.

The two organisations express strong support for the ambition of Biotech Act II to develop in particular of bio-based value chains that can contribute to Europe’s strategic autonomy, industrial competitiveness, circular economy objectives, and the reduction of dependence on fossil resources.

The letter highlights the need for a stronger and more coherent EU strategy for bio-based industries, noting that while some Member States actively promote bio-based solutions, regulatory frameworks and market incentives remain fragmented and often place such innovations at a disadvantage compared with established alternatives.

Regarding novel food and food produced through advanced biotechnological processes, including precision fermentation and cell-based production, both in the framework of the current negotiations on the Biotech Act I and the future proposal on Biotech Act II, the organisations call for a cautious and science-based approach.

“The debate on biotechnology is increasingly driven by promises rather than demonstrated results. Europe should focus on addressing real and immediate needs, rather than being guided by biotech hype. Industrial biotechnology can already contribute to reducing our dependence on fossil-based resources and support the transition to a more sustainable economy. By contrast, many of the claims associated with novel food technologies lack robust scientific validation and do not warrant public funding or preferential regulatory treatment. Biotechnological applications in the novel food sector should therefore be subject to particularly stringent assessment standards, comparable to those applied in the pharmaceutical sector,” said Luigi Scordamaglia, President of Eat Europe.

While unfortunately and inappropriately some attempt to add “novel food and innovative food” is ongoing in the European Parliament’s discussions on Biotech Act I, Eat Europe and Farm Europe stress that existing evidence regarding the long-term health impacts and environmental performance of precision fermentation and cultivated-food technologies remains incomplete and raise serious questions. Current sustainability assessments often rely on assumptions concerning future industrial scalability, energy consumption, impact on environment and production systems that have yet to be fully demonstrated. 

For this reason, the organisations argue that public support schemes or dedicated State aid measures for such food technologies would be premature in the absence of robust, independent and transparent scientific evidence confirming their claimed benefits.

The letter also underlines the strategic importance of European agriculture in ensuring food security and resilience.

Eat Europe and Farm Europe therefore call on the European Commission to ensure that the Biotech Act II is built around clear principles of sustainability, safety, scientific evidence, and technological responsibility, while preserving Europe’s high standards for the protection of human health, the environment and consumers.

“Food security cannot be reduced to the industrial capacity to manufacture ingredients in technological facilities. Europe’s food sovereignty has been built on a productive agricultural sector rooted in rural communities across the continent. Farmers must remain at the centre of Europe’s food system. 

Europe can and should become a global leader in biotechnology. But leadership is not about chasing every technological trend. It means directing innovation where it delivers clear public value, measurable environmental benefits and greater strategic autonomy,” concluded Yves Madre, President of Farm Europe.