Sector & service specialists

2024 was the year farmers really took to the streets of Brussels.  Agriculture has always been at the heart of European politics and initially, the EU budget used to fund mainly agriculture.  In the EU almost 50% of the territory is covered by farmland (both arable land and permanent grassland). Agriculture therefore plays a key role in land management and has a huge responsibility in the preservation of natural resources.   Agriculture and food related industries and services provide over 44 million jobs in the EU, including regular work for 20 million people within the agricultural sector itself. EU agricultural policy covers a wide range of areas, including food quality, traceability, trade and promotion of EU farm products.

The Agribusiness sector includes agrichemicals, breeding, crop production, distribution, farm machinery, processing, and seed supply, as well as marketing and retail sales.  EU regulation has had a major impact on these businesses, notably in the crop protection/agrichemicals field in recent years.

Trade with third countries has become a major issue for the Agriculture & Agribusiness sector.  Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, a country known as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’, has caused a global food crisis, further exacerbating existing food security challenges worldwide.

Moreover, the cost of animal feed, fertiliser and fuel has soared for farmers across Europe as Russia’s invasion of its neighbour squeezes grain supplies and sends the price of energy and other inputs rocketing. Hence, agriculture and agribusiness has become a top EU policy concern, and the sector has been very active at EU level.  As Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation wrote recently: “European farmers have been taking to the streets to protest untenable levels of hardship — and their anger is understandable. From increasing production costs and administrative burdens to unfair competition, low wages and the increasingly severe effects of climate change, it’s a known fact that many farmers are suffering — and have been for decades. They’re the first victims of a broken system that’s set up to exploit both people and nature. And a fairer future for them is also a greener future for Europe.”