The European Commission has published the call for evidence on the upcoming Food and Feed Safety Simplification Omnibus. This initiative aims to increase the competitiveness of EU farmers and the food and feed industry and reduce the administrative burden on Member States authorities related to marketing authorisations of product. The call for evidence closes on 14 October. The ESA secretariat, together with members, listed a number of key asks before summer and will reply to the consultation.

This summer the European Commission adopted recommendations on voluntary sustainability reporting for small and medium-sized enterprises (VSME). The adopted standards will reduce administrative burden on SMEs by making it easier for them to respond to requests for sustainability information from large companies and financial institutions which are subject to mandatory reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and which have such SMEs in their value chains.

Beginning of June, the European Commission released its Water Resilience Strategy, aiming to address escalating water scarcity and climate-induced challenges across the EU. The three main objectives of the strategy are the restoration and protection of the water cycle; the promotion of a water-smart economy and ensuring access to clean and affordable water.

The strategy does not include any binding targets, nor it suggests new legals instruments. It sets a non-binding goal for EU member states to reduce water consumption by at least 10% by 2030. However, this target is non-binding, allowing each country to determine its own approach to achieving this reduction.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has pledged €15 billion from 2025 to 2027 to support water-related projects, aiming to attract an additional €25 billion from commercial investors, but there will be limited financial support for agriculture.

As part of the Stakeholder Support Platforms developed in the framework of the updated EU Industrial Strategy and based on the EU Transition Pathways, the European Commission launched a dedicated Agri-food platform, completing already existing platforms tourism, social economy, chemicals, and textiles.

The platform is intended for businesses (including SMEs), business associations, institutions at EU, national and regional level, and any interested actor.  The platform is presented as an informative tool on policies and legislation, stakeholders’ pledges, best practices, etc. but also on funding and financing opportunities. It will also allow interactions with the users, allowing to share their own publications, findings, and engaging with other actors, and participating in a community format.

Please note that an active EU login account is required to register as a user of the platform. A step-by-step user guide is available here.