Missed opportunity: EU Vision includes only minor food system fixes

In its recently unveiled “Vision on Agriculture and Food - Shaping together and attractive farming and agri-food sector for future generations”, the European Commission outlined a roadmap detailing how to future-proof the EU agrifood system, building on the consensus reached in the Strategic Dialogue report in 2024.

After commenting on what the Vision will mean for the hundreds of millions of caged animals in the EU, we now take a deeper dive into the plans to bring about the urgently needed transition towards a higher-welfare, sustainable agrifood system that works for animals, EU citizens, farmers and our planet.

We’re running out of time

Our food system is facing several challenges. Society at large grapples with the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – worsened by the unsustainable, intensive farming practices prioritised by the current EU food system. Millions of farmed animals suffer in cages every year. Lots of consumers struggle to access and afford healthy, sustainably produced food. Many farmers struggle to be paid fairly for their work.

But we simply cannot afford to continue on this damaging path. Instead, we need to accelerate our efforts and ensure governments act boldly and swiftly to turn the transition towards a sustainable, higher-welfare agrifood system into a reality as soon as possible. As the Strategic Dialogue put it, “business-as-usual is no option”.

However, the Vision outlines a plan that continues to focus almost exclusively on food production, failing to address the systemic changes we need to see in terms of consumption, to ensure long-term food security in the EU.

Farmers must be supported in the transition

The Vision rightfully recognises that a resilient and sustainable agrifood system requires investments and a “bold action to finance and de-risk the sustainability transition”.

Farmers adopting higher-welfare, regenerative practices and systems must be supported in doing so, with a combination of funds from the Common Agricultural Policy, regional funds and the Just Agri-Transition Fund proposed by the Strategic Dialogue report. Regrettably, the Vision does not provide strong reassurances that this will be prioritised under the upcoming Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF), nor under the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

What farmers do not need is for the EU to avoid addressing the very problems that will come back and bite them even harder in 10 years. While the Vision merely promised “more targeted support”, the EU needs to financially support farmers “who need it the most” and move away from area-based payments, as recommended by all the participants in the Strategic Dialogue.

Regenerative farming is the way forward

The Vision rightfully signals that younger farmers are keen to drive innovation and are increasingly interested in organic farming and agroecology. Regenerative agriculture is indeed key to ensure the generational renewal the EU agrifood sector is in dire need of.

Regenerative agriculture represents a paradigm shift in sustainable farming practice. It transcends the limitations of organic certification, prioritises the restoration of ecosystems and resilience-building in the face of environmental challenges and places a strong emphasis on animal welfare.

For all these reasons, higher-welfare, sustainable practices based on regenerative and agroecological principles should be promoted through proper incentives in the upcoming CAP reform. Similarly, the announced ‘simplification’ packages should not give a free-pass to industrial farming practices, which would dwarf the progress made by those few farmers involved in regenerative agriculture.

Likewise, the announced 2040 vision for the fisheries and aquaculture sector must follow the latest scientific evidence and sustainability guidelines, and focus on the development of low-trophic aquaculture.

How we produce and eat our food can’t cost us our planet

The evidence is clear: we cannot remain within the planetary boundaries if we don’t change our dietary patterns to eat less animal-sourced food and more plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, a diversity of grains and pulses.

In the absence of a Plant-based Foods Action Plan - or any other measures aimed at nudging European consumers towards more sustainable eating habits - the Vision falls short of the ambition unanimously expressed in the Strategic Dialogue. The upcoming EU Protein Strategy, which will “consider both the way the protein is produced and consumed”, must prioritise the production of food over feed, as the most efficient use of our limited resources to ensure long term sustainability and food security in the EU.

In the EU, animal farming is responsible for about 10% of the bloc’s total GHG emissions and 81% of agricultural nitrogen input into aquatic systems. To ensure the EU supports an agrifood system that functions within the planetary boundaries, the upcoming Livestock Strategy must not rely solely on technofixes, but also provide pathways for farmers to transition to alternative production systems in particular in high-concentration areas. It also needs to promote regenerative farming systems that don’t rely on resource-intensive feed and have inherently higher welfare standards.

The Commission must respect the democratic demands of EU citizens

While the Commission reiterated once again its commitment to ban cages and revise the EU animal welfare legislation in its Vision on Agriculture and Food, this cannot result in any more delays or backward steps.

In response to the successful European Citizens’ Initiative End the Cage Age, signed by over 1.4 million EU citizens, in 2021 the Commission gave a clear and legally-binding commitment to introduce a legislative proposal to end caged farming by the end of 2023, but failed to keep its promise. In 2024, this resulted in the landmark End the Cage Age legal case – the first to hold the Commission accountable over its failure to act on an ECI.

EU citizens also support the introduction of measures to protect the welfare of fish and aquatic animals. Any delay in the revision of the Animal Welfare package - amongst others to include fish in the scope - is a denial of citizens’ expectations.

Vinciane Patelou, Head of EU at Compassion in World Farming, said: “While there are some positive elements in the Vision – like the renewed commitment to phase out cages, the stress on organic and agroecological farming and a push for extensive farming – the Commission missed the chance to fully embrace a food system approach that delivers for animals, consumers, farmers and our ecosystems.

“Buzzwords without concrete, actionable next steps that tackle both how we produce and consume our food will not get us to a place where we can experience the benefits that a sustainable, higher-welfare system will bring about.

“It’s not too late to step up the ambition in the upcoming reform of the CAP, the workstream on livestock, the fisheries and aquaculture Vision, and the Protein Strategy, to name a few.”

We urge the European Commission to act swiftly and boldly to ensure the future agri-food policies adopt a food system approach where animals are treated with compassion, farmers are fairly remunerated, and the triple planetary crisis is averted.

For more information about our work to ban caged farming and improve the EU’s animal welfare legislation, visit www.endthecageage.eu.