Navigating the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food: What U.S. Exporters Need to Know

The European Commission recently released its strategic policy document for the EU’s agriculture sector, A Vision for Agriculture and Food, setting the future goals and policy priorities for the EU’s agricultural and food sectors. This Vision builds on the 2024 report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture which was held in response to the widespread farmers protest in Brussels. The newly founded European Board for Agriculture and Food (EBAF) was consulted for input for the first time as well, ensuring that a wide view of relevant actors is heard by the Commission.

The Vision’s primary objective is to ensure the long-term competitiveness and resilience of the EU’s farming and food industries. This goal is fully aligned with the view of the vast majority of European citizens who consider securing a stable food supply within the Union at all times to be essential, based on the latest January 2025 Eurobarometer results.

For U.S. exporters, understanding this Vision is crucial for anticipating regulatory changes, adapting market strategies, and maintaining a competitive position in the EU. In contrast to the much discussed and controversial Farm to Fork Strategy, the new Vision shifts away from strong environmental rhetoric, with terms like “green,” “sustainable,” and “environment” mostly used to describe voluntary initiatives instead of binding domestic objectives. Instead, the strategy brings traditional economic and social priorities back into focus, signaling a significant change of direction in the EU’s approach to agriculture and food policy. The Vision focuses on:

1.    Attractiveness and predictability
2.    Competitiveness and resilience
3.    Future-proofing
4.    Vibrant rural areas and cultural heritage

What does this mean for a U.S. exporter to the EU?

While the EU's vision for a resilient and attractive agricultural sector is understandable considering the current geopolitical context, the potential for increased focus on local value chains, non-tariff barriers, and regulatory burdens could harm U.S. export opportunities. Hence, it is essential for U.S. exporters to closely monitor regulatory developments around these six major themes:

1. Food Sovereignty and Competitiveness: The Communication underscores the EU’s focus on “strategic autonomy” and strengthening its internal market, particularly about protein supply and fertilizers. This approach could limit market opportunities for U.S. exporters, especially in sectors like soy and other protein sources, as the EU develops a comprehensive strategy to create a more self-sufficient and sustainable protein system. 
   Regulatory simplification packages for EU farmers may decrease regulatory burden and improve long-term competitiveness. Reinforced rules to prevent unfair trading practices, ensuring farmers are not compelled to sell below production costs, are expected to increase farm income. Finally, the EU livestock sector may benefit from a renewed and comprehensive focus on increasing income from animal farming through various policy initiatives that are yet to be defined.
2. Short supply chains and Cultural Heritage: The Vision supports promoting short supply chains. As already laid out in the Farm to Fork Strategy but not implemented, revised public procurement approaches are seen as one measure to promote the consumption of local, seasonal products with high environmental and social standards, including organic products and those from shorter supply chains. A new annual Food Dialogue, with actors across the food system, will be launched to address issues from food formulation to affordability to the impact of ultra-processed foods.

3. Food labeling and Advertising: Based on the Vision, the EU is likely to refine its approach to food labeling to enhance consumer awareness, transparency, and trust in the value chain, and to continue initiatives started under the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. It highlights several key areas where labeling and advertising rules could improve an informed consumer choice:

   • Food advertising and marketing practices, especially towards vulnerable consumers such as children
   • Animal welfare labeling aligned with societal expectations
   • Elimination of misleading environmental claims and unreliable sustainability labels
   • Expansion of country-of-origin labeling

   Notably, the strategy omits the highly controversial topic of mandatory, EU-wide front-of-pack warning labels, and a sustainable food label, both of which had been mentioned by the Farm to Fork Strategy. However, to streamline sustainability standards and reporting requirements for European farms, the EU plans to introduce a voluntary benchmarking system for on-farm sustainability assessments. While designed for farmers, this system could also improve consumer understanding of sustainability practices long-term or build the foundation of future EU sustainability labels.

4. Animal Welfare and Pesticide Use: While the EU's commitment to a significant greening of the EU farming sector is mostly watered down by the Vision, some environmental aspects of the Vision could create challenges for U.S. exporters. Stricter regulations on pesticide use and animal welfare may act as de facto trade barriers, requiring U.S. producers to make adaptations to their production systems to comply with EU standards. Both priorities are linked to regulatory initiatives and proposals under the Farm to Fork Strategy, where the Commission has so far fallen short of fully implementing its objectives. The Commission’s approach to deepening reciprocity or mirror clauses will be presented to Member States during 2025. The EU will also collaborate with the FAO and international partners to develop a common approach for a fair assessment of sustainability aspects in global food production, complementing the above-mentioned on-farm sustainability assessment system. 

   Below are key objectives related to pesticides, to which the European Commission commits to:

   • Consider the availability of alternative products when evaluating pesticide restrictions, including changes for the acceleration of access to biopesticides within the EU.
   • Promote alternative pest control methods, including integrated pest management (IPM), precision agriculture, and biological control solutions.
   • Increase resources to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to speed up risk assessment procedures.
   • Apply EU production standards to imported products to level the playing field for EU farmers (mirror clause).
   • Establish a principle that the most hazardous pesticides banned in the EU for health and environmental reasons are not allowed back into the EU through imported products.
   • Work with international standard-setting bodies to strengthen the implementation of internationally agreed commitments and to raise global standards in plant protection products.
   • Evaluate whether to prohibit the exports of pesticides that are banned in the EU.
   • Strengthen monitoring and enforcement mechanisms through improved surveillance, data collection, and transparency regarding pesticide use and residues.
   • Improve labeling and information campaigns to help consumers make informed choices about pesticide-free or low-residue products.

   Key objectives related to animal welfare, which the European Commission commits to, include:

   • The Commission will pursue a stronger alignment of animal production standards applied to imported products.
   • Future legislative proposals will aim to apply the same animal welfare standards for products produced in the EU and those imported from third countries in a WTO-compliant manner and based on an impact assessment.
   • The Commission is committed to phasing out cages as part of the revision of animal welfare legislation, while providing support and transition periods.
   • The Commission will consider targeted labeling in relation to animal welfare to address societal expectations.
   • Work with international standard-setting bodies to strengthen the implementation of internationally agreed commitments and to raise global standards in animal welfare.
5. Increased Monitoring at Border: A core priority of the Commission, also in response to complaints by Member States, is to ensure that relevant food safety legislation is properly implemented and enforced at the border. While several paragraphs hint at the development of new reciprocity clauses and imposing EU production standards on imports, especially for livestock, the establishment of a dedicated task force signals heightened oversight and more rigorous import controls when it comes to already in-force food safety rules.
6. Crisis Management and Trade Conflicts: The EU Commission commits to stepping up its level of preparedness regarding food security across the whole food chain, with the activities of the European Food Security Crisis Mechanism, introduced as part of the EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, continuing and further developing. The Commission will develop (still in 2025) an ambitious “Unity Safety Net” for the EU agri-food sector. If trade partners resort to unfair competition and unilateral actions that are deemed to unlawfully target the EU agri-food sector, the EU will use EU autonomous instruments such as the new Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI). The Anti-Coercion Instruments allows the EU to counter economic coercion with targeted tariffs, trade restrictions, or other economic tools to minimize the impact of the coercive actions. It allows the EU to respond quickly, timely and flexibly to the level of coercion faced, while leaving room for consultation and engagement with the trade partner involved before acting.

Conclusion

The EU's vision for a resilient and self-sufficient agricultural sector presents both new and old challenges for U.S. exporters. U.S. exporters must closely monitor the evolving landscape, particularly in areas such as pesticide use, animal welfare, border inspections, and labeling. The EU's push for stronger border controls and crisis management strategies, alongside its commitment to ensuring fair trade practices for its farmers, signals a shift towards more robust protections for European farmers and food systems. For U.S. exporters to maintain market access, understanding these developments will be key to navigating the complexities of the EU market in the years to come.

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