Policy Engagement Overview
The aggregated evidence of corporate and industry lobbying on the Farm to Fork Strategy shows widespread opposition across the EU agriculture and food industry on provisions to reduce the production and consumption of red meat and other livestock products. The sector appears to have intensely engaged on the policy to preserve a role for livestock in the EU’s food system.
Long-term Lobbying Trends
Industry associations opposed the scientific basis for transitioning diets, including European Livestock Voice, the European Livestock and Meat Trades Union (UECBV), and Copa-Cogeca.
Meat and dairy producers appeared unsupportive of the Farm to Fork objective to transition diets including Arla and Vion Food Group,** , emphasizing food security and the potential for improved efficiency of livestock production negating the need for transitioning diets. Associations representing the sector advocated against reducing meat and dairy production including Copa-Cogeca, the European Livestock Voice, UECBV and the European Dairy Association.
Consumer staples companies supported the Strategy goal to transition diets, including Nestlé, Danone and Unilever.
Corporate Leaders Group members supported the Farm to Fork Strategy in a joint letter, including Iberdrola, SSAB, EDP, and Enel.
A leaked internal document revealed Copa-Cogeca's pre-planned strategy to request impact assessments and later oppose Farm to Fork targets. Actors in the agribusiness sector including FoodDrinkEurope (FDE) and European Livestock Voice supported the Farm to Fork Strategy on the condition that impact assessments are undertaken.
Impacts on Policy Ambition
In the absence of an Impact Assessment Report, policy progress is benchmarked against measures set out in the EU Commission's May 2020 Communication as well as a leaked draft version of the EU Commission’s strategy cited by MEPs in June 2020. In this case, several elements in the EU Commission and Council's proposals appears to correlate to positions advocated by the agricultural and food sector.
EU Commission Proposal
The EU Commission’s proposed May 2020 Farm to Fork Strategy appeared to be severely weakened in comparison with a leaked version of the draft Strategy cited by MEPs in June 2020.
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Top-line need for Sustainable Diets: The EU Commission’s Farm to Fork proposal stated that people in Europe are eating too much red meat and too little fruit, vegetables and legumes, and that moving to a plant-based diet with less red and processed meat was desirable.
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Public procurement of food: The Strategy proposed minimum mandatory requirements for sustainable food procurement to source sustainable food and boost sustainable farming systems.
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Incentives: The Farm to Fork included tax incentives to promote sustainable food production and consumption, such as targeting VAT rates to support organic fruits and vegetables.
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Labelling: The Strategy proposed regulations around labelling to inform consumers about sustainability of products, including mandatory nutrition labelling. The Commission stated it would consider mandatory origin or provenance for certain products, and examine ways to create a sustainable labelling framework.
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Missing measures: The Farm to Fork did not include proposals to stop stimulating production or consumption of meat as in the leaked version cited by MEPs, and measures were targeted towards red and processed meat only. Measures extending the mandatory origin labelling to milk and milk and meat used as ingredients were also absent.
EU Parliament Position
The EU Parliament position in October 2021 mostly weakened the ambition of the Farm to Fork Strategy.
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Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems: The draft maintained support for making diets sustainable and acknowledges the environmental impact of meat, of which it states Europeans eat too much of. However, it stated that dietary advice should be “adjusted” and cautioned that cultural considerations should be maintained.
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Meat and Dairy: The Parliament proposal supported the development of alternative protein sources to reduce the environmental impact of European agriculture.
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Incentives: The proposed strategy did not include tax incentives to transition diets.
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Sustainable Food Procurement: Parliament’s proposal called for a revision of public procurement legislation to be aligned with sustainability goals, but did not directly address meat or dairy.
EU Council Position
The EU Council position in October 2020 mostly maintained the top-line priority of the strategy to promote more sustainable food consumption and healthy diets. However, the issue of transitioning diets to consume less meat is not addressed directly by the EU Council, nor is it referenced in the priorities set out in a summary of key action points, where it stressed the importance of an organic action plan, food security and carbon farming.
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Top-line ambition: The Council supported the ambition at the top level with the caveats that the policies passed are impact assessed and scientifically sound, and that the social and economic impacts are considered.
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Meat and Dairy: The Council did not directly use the term meat, dairy or livestock in its proposal, although it supported action that relates to transitioning diets, including supporting the development of alternative plant-based proteins.
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Sustainable Food Procurement: The proposal supported “guidance” to ensure sustainable food procurement in public institutions.
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Incentives: The Council’s strategy did not propose tax incentives to transition diets.
Policy Passed
The EU Commission adopted a communication on the EU Farm to Fork Strategy in May 2020. Following this, the EU Council and Parliament published their own opinions which broadly weakened the Commission's original ambition and called for an impact assessment.
