New EU farming strategy: fewer rules and less foreign competition
According to a Guardian article this week, the EU's new Vision for Agriculture and Food places more emphasis on protecting European farmers through stricter import standards and a shift from environmental 'conditions to incentives.'
On the subject of meat and livestock (which, according to ING, accounts for a third of EU food exports), the report states that "Livestock is and will remain an essential part of EU agriculture, competitiveness and cohesion." It says that a "workstream on livestock" will be launched to develop "policy pathways" on the future of Europe's meat and livestock industry. This would aim to encourage investment in the sector to reduce its carbon footprint.
ING has produced an overview of what's in and what's been left out of the new strategy from a food industry perspective and how that will shape EU food policy to 2040.