One week after releasing the Delegated Act of the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming framework, the European Commission has, today, presented its Emissions Trading System revision, committing only to assess — in a 2034 review — the possibility of selling carbon farming credits on the ETS market and allowing Member States to mobilise ETS revenues to support investments to reduce agricultural emissions linked to smart fertilisation, including farmers’ uptake of bio-based, organic and circular fertilisers.

Farm Europe and Eat Europe assess positively those initial steps, but regret the move to re-integrate international carbon credits, which risk diverting demand away from domestic solutions and investment in Europe, and the further delayed recognition of carbon farming credits. We also regret that the ETS revision does not propose to clearly suspend the application of the ETS and CBAM to fertilizers — which would shift the incentive away from penalising production and towards stimulating demand for low-carbon fertilisers. At the very least, the prolongation of free allowances should be paired with a revised CBAM trajectory and with the possibility to sell carbon farming credits into the ETS.

Farm Europe and Eat Europe  urge both the Commission and the co-legislators not to further postpone the possibility to connect Carbon Farming CRCF credits to the ETS, creating a true business model for emission reduction in agriculture, in Europe. Although the proposal anticipates a review in 2034 and subsequent consideration of the inclusion of credits from carbon farming, carbon farming needs a market now. Agriculture is a building block of the defossilisation of a large part of the EU economy, well beyond the food market. The agricultural sector requires large scale investments and policy coherence to be in a position to provide circular, biogenic carbon, essential to lay down the foundation of a competitive carbon neutral economy.

“The adoption of the carbon farming methodologies last week associated with the commitment from the Commission to examine direct links between CRCF and ETS are encouraging developments in the effort to create a true leverage for emission reduction in agriculture”, reacted Luc Vernet, Secretary General of Farm Europe, adding, “now is the time to move from concepts to concrete decisions. Farmers can’t wait 2034 to be fairly rewarded for their emission reduction efforts”.

As for free allocation, we welcome the proposal to slow the reduction of free allowances for CBAM-covered sectors and to extend the phase-out of free allowances until 2038. However, this extension must necessarily be accompanied by a revision of the trajectory of the CBAM for fertilisers.

“The two mechanisms are intrinsically linked and should operate in a coordinated manner. Extending free allocation while maintaining the CBAM for fertilisers would result in divergences between two instruments designed to address the same carbon leakage risk, undermining the coherence and effectiveness of the EU carbon pricing framework,” said Luigi Scordamaglia, President of Eat Europe.

Voluntary carbon markets currently do not offer real and predictable opportunities to allow farmers to trigger investments in emission reduction and carbon removals, including in low carbon fertilisers. The ETS revision is a unique opportunity to close this gap. It sets out how domestic permanent carbon removals could be accounted for within the trading system to help address residual emissions in hard-to-abate sectors. The European Commission will examine how carbon farming and nature-based carbon sequestration units could in future qualify as permanent removals — of which, at this stage, only BioCCS and DACCS are included in the ETS. 

In addition, the Commission proposes to channel part of ETS revenues to investments to reduce agricultural emissions linked to more efficient use of fertilisers and to support farmers in the uptake of bio-based, organic and circular fertilisers. The modernisation fund will also support investments in lead markets for the production of affordable low-carbon and bio-based fertilisers.

Farm Europe regrets the missed opportunity resulting from today’s vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), which endorsed compromise amendments maintaining the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) performance framework within the proposed horizontal Regulation on budget expenditure tracking and performance.

While the adopted compromise introduces some improvements to the European Commission’s initial proposal, it ultimately fails to safeguard the CAP’s specific governance and accountability architecture. By keeping the CAP performance framework outside the CAP Regulation, the AGRI Committee has endorsed an approach that risks weakening the policy’s coherence and effectiveness.

The CAP is a unique common European policy with its own objectives, governance system and delivery model. Its performance framework should therefore remain embedded in the CAP legislative framework, where indicators and monitoring tools can be designed to properly reflect the realities of agriculture and rural development.

Moving these provisions into a horizontal regulation covering a wide range of EU policies creates a precedent that could gradually dilute the CAP’s autonomy and undermine the policy’s ability to demonstrate its contribution to Europe’s strategic priorities, including food security, competitiveness, resilience and environmental sustainability.

As discussions on the future Multiannual Financial Framework and the post-2027 CAP continue, Farm Europe calls on the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission to restore a CAP’s dedicated performance architecture during the forthcoming interinstitutional negotiations. Preserving the integrity of the CAP’s governance framework remains essential to ensuring that the policy can effectively respond to the challenges facing European agriculture.

Farm Europe and Eat Europe are closely following negotiations on the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and welcome the positive progress made in the European Parliament, with the aim to increasingly recognise the strategic role of agriculture and the entire agri-food chain in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and security.

From the very beginning of the legislative process, as Farm Europe and Eat Europe we suggested amendments aimed at ensuring that agriculture, food and the broader bioeconomy remain at the heart of the ECF. These efforts have shown to be fundamental in preventing attempts to marginalise the sector by removing its dedicated place within both the European Competitiveness Fund and Horizon Europe.

After a difficult start, with some ideas within Itre committee proposing to dilute agriculture within a broader chapter on so-called “Sustainable Prosperity”, the discussions now emerging among negotiators in the ITRE Committee represents an encouraging step in the right direction. It reflects a growing recognition that agriculture and food are not only beneficiaries of competitiveness policies, but essential drivers of Europe’s industrial strength, innovation capacity, strategic autonomy and economic resilience.

As negotiations continue, it is now essential to build on this momentum by ensuring that agriculture and the entire agri-food value chain receive the recognition they deserve through dedicated funding opportunities across the relevant ECF priorities. Investments supporting the digital transition, clean energy, sustainable water management, strategic stockpiling, innovation and industrial transformation are indispensable to unlock the sector’s full potential and close the existing investment gap.

The European Parliament now has the opportunity to send a strong political signal by confirming agriculture and food as strategic pillars of the European Competitiveness Fund. We encourage all political groups to confirm these first positive outcomes in the final report. It is crucial that the European Parliament’s final position reflects the AGRI Committee’s recommendations and ensures greater alignment with the Commission’s proposals and the Council’s position, recognising the strategic importance of the sector and the need for dedicated support to enable it to continue driving Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability and security.

Farm Europe and Eat Europe welcome the strong political message delivered at the latest Agriculture and Fisheries Council, where ten Member States, led by Italy and supported by several other ministers during the debate, called on the European Commission to reverse the proposed cuts to the EU agricultural promotion budget.

This initiative confirms the concerns that Farm Europe and Eat Europe first raised when the Commission announced its intention to reduce the 2027 promotion budget by almost 50%, from €205 million to €112 million. Such a decision would weaken one of the EU’s most effective instruments to strengthen the competitiveness of its agri-food sector.

“EU promotion policy is not a cost but a strategic investment,” said Yves Madre, President of Farm Europe. “It is essential to promote the European production model, its high environmental, social and quality standards, while supporting farmers’ incomes and helping European businesses expand into new markets. At a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade relations and an accelerating race to open new export opportunities, this policy is more strategic than ever.”

Farm Europe and Eat Europe underline that promotion policy generates tangible economic value by supporting quality schemes, geographical indications, and the international competitiveness of European agriculture. It is also a key instrument to ensure that consumers around the world recognise the added value of European products and the standards behind them.

“Even more worrying than the scale of the cut is that promotion is repeatedly considered a “disposable” policy. One year the budget is increased, the next it is drastically reduced, while resources are shifted between different budget lines – to the detriment of the predictability that farmers and agri-food businesses need,” said Luigi Scordamaglia, President of Eat Europe. “This creates the impression that the Commission is simply taking money away with one hand and returning part of it with the other, without any real reinforcement of the promotion policy. Such an approach undermines the confidence of businesses and Member States and makes long-term planning virtually impossible.” 

Farm Europe and Eat Europe call on the European Commission to heed the clear message sent by Member States and restore a promotion budget that reflects the strategic importance of the policy. If the EU is serious about strengthening its agricultural sector and expanding its presence in global markets, its political ambitions must be backed by stable and adequate financial resources.

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.