On how to secure a sustainable future for the EU livestock sector in light of the need to ensure food security, farmers’ resilience and the challenges posed by animal diseases?
A-10-2026-0088
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development · Rapporteur: Carlo Fidanza
- Voted on · Adopted 426–119–40 · See the decision →
- Full procedure 2025/2053
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The report addresses the future of the EU livestock sector, emphasizing its economic, social, and environmental importance. It calls for tailored policies, support for farmers, and measures to combat animal diseases.¶¶¶ It urges the Commission to establish a high-level group on livestock, ensure fair competition, and maintain CAP funding. It also stresses the need for science-based policy and consumer information.¶¶¶
Committee position. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development proposes a resolution that welcomes the Commission's livestock workstream, calls for a high-level group, and urges tailored policies to support the sector's sustainability and competitiveness.¶¶
Key points
- Calls for a high-level group on livestock to develop tailored solutions, reflecting regional diversity and involving stakeholders.¶¶
- Demands a stable regulatory framework, reduced administrative burdens, and simplified rules for livestock farmers, especially small-scale ones.¶¶
- Stresses the need to strengthen farmers' position in the value chain, ensuring prices cover production costs, and supports cooperatives and producer organisations.¶¶
- Calls for maintaining CAP budget in real terms, with continued coupled support, and a transitional period post-2027.¶¶
- Urges the Commission to ensure reciprocity of EU standards in trade agreements through mirror clauses and to strengthen import controls.¶¶
- Highlights the role of livestock in circular economy and bioeconomy, calling for support for biogas, digestate, and RENURE fertilisers.¶¶¶
- Warns against one-size-fits-all herd reductions, advocating for science-based, tailored approaches to reduce environmental impact.¶¶
- Calls for mandatory origin labelling for meat in processed products and protection of meat denominations for plant-based alternatives.¶¶
- Demands rigorous impact assessments for synthetic foods and warns against their promotion without conclusive evidence.¶¶
- Emphasises the need for improved animal disease prevention, including vaccination, biosecurity, and a rapid alert mechanism.¶¶¶
- Calls for increased funding for disease eradication, compensation schemes, and a European animal health fund.¶¶
- Urges the Commission to engage with trading partners to accept regionalisation and inactivation treatments, and to assess ring-fencing.¶¶
Who is affected
- Livestock farmers in the EU, especially small-scale and family farms, will benefit from simplified rules and support for income stability.¶¶
- Young and new farmers are targeted with start-up support and measures to improve access to land and credit.¶¶
- Farmers in mountainous, remote, and outermost regions receive specific attention for tailored CAP support.¶¶
- The veterinary sector and animal health industry are called upon to innovate and support disease prevention.¶¶
- Consumers are affected by calls for clearer labelling and protection of meat denominations.¶¶
Figures and deadlines
- 58 % of European farms keep animals, and livestock farms employ around four million people.¶
- The EU lost 37 % of its farmers over the past 20 years, and farmers' income decreased by 12 % per hectare.
- In 2023, the EU had 133 million pigs, 74 million bovine animals, 58 million sheep, 11 million goats, and 1.63 billion poultry birds.¶
- The EU produced 40.7 million tonnes of meat in 2023.¶
- EU net exports of animal products reached EUR 37.8 billion in 2024.¶
- The EU is only 75 % self-sufficient in crude protein sources and imports over 70 % of its vegetable protein needs.¶
- By 2023, the EU had reached half of its 2030 target of a 50 % reduction in antimicrobial sales.¶
Legal basis: Articles 38 and 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union¶