When it comes to EU food policy, the new European Commission faces the usual competing demands; an industry keen to see more support (including financial) and NGOs wanting greater scrutiny (and regulation) in areas from the environment to public health.
Trade bodies representing food manufacturers operating in the EU believe the new Commission should use its term of office up to 2029 to enable a strong, competitive agri-food chain.
Consumer and green groups have called on the new executive to develop food policies that make the agri-food value chain more environmentally sustainable and that promote better health outcomes for EU citizens.
A key early step will be the Commission’s much-anticipated Vision for Agriculture & Food document, outlining the new administration’s food policies. It was first announced in September, to be delivered by new Agriculture and Food Commissioner, Luxembourger Christophe Hansen, next spring.
European food and drink organisation FoodDrinkEurope (FDE), European dairy trade body Eucolait, the European Snacks Association (ESA) and the European Plant-based Foods Association (ENSA) have all been pressing Hansen to recognise the importance of their sectors in this document, even if their priorities may differ.
The Commission must “recognise just how strategic the food and drink industry is for our economy, food systems and society”, a spokesperson for FDE says.
Hansen has been given a mission brief by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to prepare in the first 100 days “a vision for agriculture and food, working under my guidance and in coordination with other members of college”.
Urging the Commission to consider the entire agri-food chain in its work, instead of just one part of it, the FDE welcomes Hansen’s joint role as Commissioner for Agriculture and Food. Hansen's position contrasts with the previous post held by Poland’s Janusz Wojciechowski, who was Agriculture Commissioner, with a subsidiary brief for rural development.
The other key food role in the old Commission was the Health and Food Safety Commissioner, which is now just ‘Health’, with food safety covered by the new Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner, Hungarian conservative Oliver Varhelyi.
“The food and drink industry plays a strategic role in Europe’s critical infrastructure,” the FDE spokesperson tells Just Food. “We expect the European Commission to recognise this and boost resilience and competitiveness in the agri-food chain.
“The Vision for Agriculture & Food… should focus on unlocking investment; facilitating innovation; boosting trade and secure supplies; building better regulation; and, improving governance.”
Environmental and consumer organisations have warned that Hansen, a centre-right Christian Democrat, did not highlight sustainable food as a priority in his November European Parliament hearing. Nor was it stressed in his or Varhelyi's mission letters.
Consumer and green groups have nonetheless called on the new executive to promote sustainable food policies: “We urgently need a legislative framework for sustainable food systems, protecting European consumers’ health and offering them sustainable food choices,” Safe Food Advocacy Europe secretary general Floriana Cimmarusti says.
FDE agrees that a sustainable Europe-focused food chain is important, helping ensure that manufacturers can obtain affordable quality supplies that do not damage the environment – but this will require investment, its spokesperson says, pointing to a recent report by the trade body that claimed a financing gap to transition to sustainable agriculture standing at €28-35bn a year. "Yet the cost of inaction stands to cost Europe €50bn annually,” he says. "The staggering €50bn figure reflects the loss of essential services provided by healthy soil, jeopardising the very foundation of our agricultural productivity."
According to the FDE spokesperson, the Commission must seriously examine funding opportunities for a transition to sustainable agriculture outside of the Common Agricultural Policy, so that the responsibility and costs for this change do not rest solely on primary food producers "It is not for us to say who should pay for the change," the spokesperson says. "We maintain that no single actor can drive change alone. It takes the entire value chain."
Last week, Danone and Unilever were among food and drinks heavyweights urging the newly-elected Commission to “put sustainability at the heart” of its agri-food policies.
In a letter to Hansen, the companies encouraged Brussels to “deliver a vision for agriculture and food that accelerates Europe’s transition to sustainable farming and consumption, ultimately helping ensure long-term competitiveness”.
The letter was also signed by dairy-alternatives business Oatly, cheese giant Bel Group and frozen-food major McCain Foods.
Plant-based diets
Among the companies’ demands is for the EC to increase environmental payments in the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
They have also called for the establishment of mandatory sustainability criteria for public procurement.
And they want the EC to introduce measures to “encourage citizens to shift their eating habits towards healthier and more sustainable diets to support this transition” towards a more sustainable agri-food economy.
The new Commission must prioritise driving the consumption of plant-based food, Luis Uribe, president of ENSA, says. For Uribe, promoting “balanced and sustainable diets, including plant-based alternatives to dairy and meat” must remain “at the forefront of policy discussions”.
Regretting there was “no explicit reference to a legislative framework for sustainable food systems” in Hansen’s and Varhelyi’s mission letters and hearings, Uribe urged THE development of a “comprehensive action plan for plant-based foods”, as recommended by the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture from the previous 2019-24 Commission. Such a move would not only support sustainable agriculture and food production but also foster “healthier diets across Europe”, he adds.
Uribe hopes the Commission's Directorate-General (DG) for Research and Innovation research and innovation would prioritise initiatives supporting the transition to sustainable food systems. There should be funding to develop plant-based foods via a new CAP and Horizon Europe programme, he says.
“There is a clear opportunity to accelerate R&D in plant-based food technologies… such as plant-based protein extraction and food processing technologies… to make plant-based foods more accessible, affordable, scalable and appealing to consumers,” Uribe tells Just Food.
All farmers, he adds, should be provided with “the right tools, support and financial incentives to shift to plant-based production for human consumption”.
Industry representatives see Horizon Europe as an important vehicle to support investment across a range of areas.
To advance sustainable production methods, develop healthier product options and invest in more modern manufacturing processes, appropriate funding and support mechanisms should come through programmes like Horizon Europe, ESA director general Sebastian Emig says.
Targeted support to modernise manufacturing plants, scale up successful pilot projects and invest in greener logistics and packaging solutions would also be “very welcome”, he adds.
Emig said he is “cautiously optimistic” that a new research commissioner and the DG Research and Innovation would prioritise food-related technologies, innovation and nutritional research in the next five years. Key areas for the ESA boss include “developing more sustainable raw materials, improving processing efficiency, and advanced packaging solutions that reduce environmental impact and food waste”.
As for research and development policy under the new Commission, the FDE spokesperson outlines three steps the organisation would like taken by Bulgaria’s Ekaterina Zaharieva, the Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, to “unlock innovation in our food chain”. FDE wants the Commission to work to make the EU more attractive to private sector investment in research and innovation; provide adequate funds to sustainable food systems through EU research programmes such as Horizon Europe; and encourage public-private partnerships.
FDE also wants the food and drink sector written into a planned European Innovation Act, which von der Leyen has tasked Zaharieva to handle in her mission letter, an upcoming Strategy for European Life Sciences and a planned EU Biotech Act, “which should provide opportunities to identify and address roadblocks to innovation in this strategic sector,” the spokesperson argues.
For Emig at the ESA, collaboration is key. He says the new Commissioners must work together “openly and constructively” with all relevant stakeholders. Cross-departmental collaboration is important, Emig argues, as there was no longer a dedicated food safety portfolio, with food safety, sustainability and consumer interests “spanning multiple policy areas”.
Food sector experience is beneficial, Emig adds, but “what matters most is a proactive commitment to learn about and understand the complexities of our industry.”
Like the FDE, Emig highlights the importance of competitiveness and adequate funding, underlining how he wants “a rational, science- and evidence-based regulatory environment that encourages innovation, competitiveness, and responsible growth for Europe’s food manufacturing sector”.
The ESA chief says “innovation, sustainability, food security, health and economic resilience [should be] in equal measures in the Vision for Agriculture and Food”.
The snacks industry, like the broader agri-food chain, is characterised by “shifting consumer demands, digitalisation, sustainability targets, and stringent food safety expectations,” he adds, urging the Commission to “maintain a coherent and balanced approach”, supporting environmental health priorities of the 2019-24 Commission, such as the European Green Deal objectives and the Farm to Fork strategy, while recognising the practical implications for European manufacturers.
“This includes promoting robust and harmonised risk assessment, a fair single market, and… new technologies that can enhance product quality, reduce environmental impact, and improve consumer access to a diverse range of safe and enjoyable foods.”
Campaigners’ demands
The new Commission, however, faces a range of competing views outside industry.
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), like ENSA, also criticised the new Commission for not singling out developing sustainable food production. It must “prioritise fostering healthier, more sustainable diets and make these choices affordable for all,” a BEUC spokesperson says.
Last week, 18 health associations called on the new Commission to include a range of policies in the Vision for Agriculture & Food, including mandatory reformulation targets, new rules on public procurement and obliging the use of the Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition labels.
“Introducing a mandatory front-of-pack nutritional label is crucial to empower consumers,” the BEUC spokesperson adds. “Public health, food nutrition, and sustainability must be at the heart of EU food policies to address diet-related diseases, food security and climate challenges.”
Caitlin Smith, senior campaigner at Netherlands-based NGO Changing Markets Foundation, went further.
The new Commission “must take urgent action to transform the EU food system to simultaneously mitigate methane emissions and make sure it is able to adapt to the climate crisis”, Smith says.
Notably, Changing Markets believes Brussels should develop and implement an EU Methane Action Plan, including concrete reduction targets for agricultural methane emissions and herd sizes, with these priorities to be included in the Vision for Agriculture and Food.
Smith adds: “The EU must prioritise redistribution of the currently damaging subsidy system and reform the CAP towards more sustainable farming practices like agroecology, and ultimately a reduction in livestock numbers, especially from industrial animal agriculture.”
The EU's recent deal with the Mercosur trade bloc attracted criticism in campaign circles, with NGOs fearing the impact the agreement (still to be ratified) could have on the environment.
Pierre-Jean Sol Brasier, a campaigner at environmental NGO Fern, was critical, arguing the deal “perpetuates the extractivist model in mining and agriculture – the two biggest drivers of forest destruction and land grabs in South America”.
Saskia Bricmont, Greens-European Free Alliance (EFA) MEP echoed similar statements in an official statement, noting her party “rejected” the deal.
“It was alongside the far-right Argentine President, Javier Milei, that Ursula von der Leyen sealed the EU-Mercosur agreement which meets neither the needs of Europeans nor those of the citizens of Mercosur countries…
“Clearly, the concerns expressed by the European agricultural world, job creation, the protection of social rights, health or even forests in Mercosur countries are not priorities for the President of the European Commission. She seems above all to be interested in potential outlets for industries that, for a long time, preferred to distribute dividends rather than invest in the ecological transition.
The FDE spokesperson says the EU-Mercosur agreement could open new South American markets and opportunities for European food and drink companies. However, food and drinks companies operating in the bloc are watching global trade carefully, especially with Donald Trump, the self-styled 'Tariff Man', set to return to the White House.
On tariffs, the FDE spokesperson says he hopes Maroš Šefčovič, the new Commissioner for Trade, Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, “will work with US partners towards the permanent removal of retaliatory tariffs on food and drink, resulting from trade disputes in unrelated sectors”.
Emig says the experienced Šefčovič (a Commissioner since 2009) should “defend the EU’s high standards on food safety, quality and sustainability in international negotiations, be it with Mercosur partners or in response to possible tariff threats from the US".
