Dialogue and Ground-Level Engagement Take Center Stage Commissioner Christophe Hansen, during his address to the European Parliament's ENVI Committee on March 31, 2025, emphasized the importance of ongoing dialogue with farmers, stakeholders, and society to shape the EU's agriculture and food sector. He committed to visiting over half the Member States before summer, aiming to understand regional nuances firsthand.
Ambitious Yet Tailored Policy Priorities Hansen outlined the Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food as a comprehensive roadmap targeting an "attractive, competitive, future-proof and fair" agri-food sector grounded in innovation and partnership. The Vision rests on four priority areas:
1. Fair Renumeration and Market Stability: Hansen highlighted the need for farmers to earn incomes that reflect production costs, promising a review of Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) legislation and reaffirming the continuation of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) public support. He also mentioned plans for a Strategy on generational renewal to attract young farmers by 2025. This signals a policy orientation favoring strengthened farmer incomes and diversification via innovations like carbon farming and circular bioeconomy incentives.
2. Competitiveness and Resilience: Recognizing climate change as a significant threat, Hansen proposed reinforcing farm-level climate adaptation through a new European Climate Adaptation Plan and improved risk management tools. Importantly, he committed to aligning import standards with EU environmental and animal welfare rules, potentially increasing regulatory pressure on importers and protecting EU producers from unfair global competition.
3. Environmental Sustainability: The Vision stresses the dual goal of biodiversity protection and agriculture competitiveness through stricter enforcement of existing legislation and new tools like an On-Farm Sustainability Compass and easier access to biopesticides. Initiatives to tackle water scarcity with climate-proof solutions and water-efficient farming methods showcase a move toward territorial, bottom-up approaches while maintaining Green Deal ambitions.
4. Food Consumers and Rural Livelihoods: Hansen drew attention to food security beyond supply, focusing on affordability, culture, and fair working conditions. The Commission looks to enhance EU-level interventions through public procurement and school schemes, complementing national roles, alongside organizing Food Dialogues to promote stakeholder engagement.
Impact on Stakeholders Farmers stand to gain from policies targeting improved income fairness, income diversification, and simplified administrative burdens. At the same time, increased enforcement of standards on imported agricultural goods aims to level the playing field but may raise compliance costs for importers and distributors. National authorities face new coordination demands to implement tailored, territorial policies and enforce existing legislation. Civil society and consumers may benefit from stronger sustainability measures and improved food affordability initiatives, though they will observe how these balance with market competitiveness.
Conclusion Commissioner Hansen's Vision suggests an approach that reinforces EU support and regulatory frameworks to simultaneously boost farmer incomes, enhance sustainability, and ensure competitiveness. The policy direction favors strengthening EU standards and support structures while adopting pragmatic, region-sensitive methods to meet climate, economic, and social goals. Stakeholders can expect a complex interplay of incentives, regulatory alignments, and dialogue-focused governance moving forward.
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