European Food Giants Call on Lawmakers to Greenify Farmer Payments & Drive Sustainable Consumption

Unilever, Danone and Oatly are among food companies that are urging the EU’s new agrifood commissioner to prioritise green policies and promote healthy and sustainable diets.

The EU must “urgently step up” its efforts to decarbonise the region’s agriculture sector and help farmers greenify their operations, according to some of the largest food companies in Europe.

Unilever, Danone, Bel Group, McCain and Oatly have penned a letter to Christophe Hansen, the EU’s latest food and farming commissioner, asking him to deliver an agriculture vision rooted in sustainability to ensure long-term competitiveness.

“The EU must actively change the way we produce and consume food to ensure that nature, consumers, and the farming and food industries can thrive,” the companies say, highlighting the role of the “triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution” in challenging food security and farmers’ ability to make ends meet.

It is among a raft of open letters being directed to the new EU Commission, as companies and civil society organisations fight to safeguard the European food system and drive a shift to healthy and sustainable diets under Ursula von der Leyen’s second term as president – with one eye on her previous Commission’s failures to make good on its green policies.

New Commission should follow stakeholders’ agrifood advice

The letter highlights the conclusion of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture: business as usual is not an option.

It was the consensus of farmer groups, food lobbies, consumer organisations, and climate NGOs, who published a 56-page report asking the EU to overhaul its food system, with one key measure being a transition to alternative proteins and the development of a bloc-wide plant-based action plan by 2026.

Von der Leyen had said this advice would feed into the Commission’s agrifood vision, to be unveiled within the first 100 days of the term (which began December 1). But Hansen has previously poured cold water on the Strategic Dialogue’s advice calling it “rather a vague formulation” and suggesting more detailed discourse was needed.

But the five companies are imploring Hansen to build on the agreements of the Strategic Dialogue and the previous Commission’s mandate, and deliver a roadmap that would help the region move towards more sustainable farming and consumption patterns.

“The EU must urgently step up biodiversity protection and restoration in agricultural land, reduce GHG emissions from the agricultural sector, and ensure adequate incentives to support farmers in the transition,” the letter reads.

Von der Leyen’s previous Commission was widely criticised for the derailment of several agricultural sustainability policies. Lobbying efforts from farm groups and MEPs successfully managed to stall or weaken plans like the Farm to Fork Strategy Sustainable Food Systems Framework, and the Industrial Emissions Directive.

As consumer-focused companies, Unilever (also under fire for watering down its climate goals) and Danone have been found to be more actively supportive of the EU’s green policies. Working with fellow CPG giants, these efforts continue with the open letter.

“Building on the work from the previous Commission mandate, European Commissioner Christophe Hansen should set clear overarching objectives to create enabling food environments that make healthy and sustainable food products the easiest and most affordable choice for consumers across the EU,” the firms write, calling these aims “crucial to guide investments and accelerate the urgent transition”.

CAP subsidies need a rethink

The letter also contends with a major economic measure in the EU, the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). The instrument provides farmers with financial support, and is the bloc’s oldest regulation. But the CAP is heavily skewed towards livestock farming, a sector that receives around 82% of its subsidies, four times higher than plant-based agriculture.

This is despite meat and dairy accounting for 84% of EU agriculture emissions, and providing only 35% of calories and 65% of proteins in the region. The CAP’s environmental controls, meanwhile, were further weakened this year thanks to intense lobbying.

Climate groups have been calling on policymakers to redirect these subsidies towards plant-based agriculture, as have institutions like the World Bank. Now, some of the largest companies operating in the region are too. The letter calls for a substantial hike in effective environmental payments under the CAP to farmers who “need it most” and are applying sustainable practices.

This would ensure a stable income for these producers, and echoes the Strategic Dialogue’s advice: “Such environmental payments should go beyond what is currently required by the EU legislation and aim at the highest environmental and climate ambitions.”

The letter also urges the EU to support the creation of an Agriculture Just Transition and Nature Fund separate from the CAP, to close the current financing gap for nature conservation and ecosystem restoration. In addition, mandatory sustainability criteria for public procurement would further increase awareness and accessibility for healthier and more sustainable food, while benchmarks for on-farm sustainability would help promote common solutions from a range of stakeholders.

It’s worth noting that of the five companies, only Oatly is fully plant-based. Unilever, Danone and Bel Group are behemoths in the dairy industry, despite their dominance in the vegan sector too, so a plea to the EU for a CAP reform is a welcome development.

“Companies know that making food supply chains truly sustainable is key to staying competitive in the long term – starting at the farm,” said Giulia Riedo, sustainable farming policy officer at the WWF Europe, which has worked with over 40 organisations to write a similar open letter to Hansen.

“Many farmers are already adopting greener practices, but their efforts must be rewarded to incentivise others to follow. The Commission should increase funding for CAP payments for ecosystem services and rethink existing subsidies that harm not only the planet but also our competitiveness. Let’s stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” she added.

The EU Commission also received a letter from groups representing millions of doctors, nutritionists and patients this week, asking policymakers to prioritise preventative policies and promote healthy and sustainable diets in the 100-day vision.