Browse Data and Analysis

On September 17, 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her list of EU Commissioners-designate for 2024-2029.

On September 4, 2024, a working group consisting of 29 European stakeholders released its report on the “Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture” following seven months of intensive consultations.

In 2023, the European Union (EU)-27 imported $6.5 billion in tree nuts from the world. The EU remains a net importer of tree nuts for all products as demand highly exceeds domestic production. The United States is the largest EU-27 tree nuts supplier, providing $2.4 billion worth of nuts, or 37 percent of total imports.

Both EU beef and pork production, as well as exports, are forecast to temporarily increase this year. Beef production will increase because of high carcass and beef prices combined with an overall dim outlook for the sector, incentivizing farmers to slaughter their cattle.

Driven by strong internal demand, EU chicken meat production is expected to continue growing in 2024 and 2025. In 2025, Poland will remain the largest EU chicken meat producer, accounting for more than 22 percent of total EU production.

The revised EU27 sugar production forecast for market year (MY) 2021/22 is 16.6 million metric tons (MMT) in Raw Sugar Equivalents (RSE) as it suffered less from beet yellows virus (BYV) disease than the MY 2020/21 production.

On October 1, 2021, the European Commission published a roadmap outlining its intention to propose legally binding food waste reduction targets in the European Union, as part of its Farm to Fork Strategy. Stakeholders can comment on the roadmap until October 29, 2021.

On September 29, 2021, the European Commission published a roadmap outlining its intention to publish a Communication on biobased, biodegradable and compostable plastics.

After two decades of growth, EU chicken meat production is expected to decline by almost 1 percent in 2021 due to HPAI outbreaks and the ongoing impact of COVID-19.

On September 29, 2021, the European Commission launched five “EU missions” to address climate and sustainability issues through funding of research and development.

On September 28, 2021, the European Commission published a roadmap outlining a new regulation being developed to increase the sustainability of all foods placed on the EU market.

This report provides an overview of EU food and feed legislation currently in force for the EU. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff reviewed and updated all sections of this annual report.