{"id":459131,"date":"2026-07-07T18:17:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/07\/07\/la-commissione-ue-tenta-di-salvare-gli-allevamenti-hansen-la-storia-di-successo-europea-e-in-crisi\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T18:35:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:35:58","slug":"the-eu-commission-is-trying-to-save-livestock-farms-hansen-europes-success-story-is-in-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/07\/07\/the-eu-commission-is-trying-to-save-livestock-farms-hansen-europes-success-story-is-in-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU Commission is trying to save livestock farms. Hansen: \u201cEurope\u2019s success story is in crisis\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 \u201cThis strategy covers agriculture and rural development, animal welfare, and cohesion.\u201d <\/span><\/span>This is how the Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto<\/b>, presented<\/a><\/b> the Livestock Farming Strategy adopted<\/a> today (7 July) by the European Commission.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 Fitto explained that the document addresses the <\/span>many challenges facing the sector, including \u201cglobal competition, the need to remain profitable, and society\u2019s expectations regarding animal welfare and sustainability<\/b>.\u201d The text is accompanied by a Protein Action Plan, an initiative aimed at increasing protein supply and production within the Union. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

During a joint press conference with Fitto, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, <\/span>Christophe<\/b> Hansen<\/b>, pointed out<\/a> that the European livestock sector is a European success story, as <\/span>it employs around 7 million people and generates an annual turnover of around \u20ac400 billion, as well as a trade surplus of \u20ac37 billion. However, \u201cthis success is at risk due to rising production costs, extreme weather events, animal diseases, and low profitability<\/b>,\u201d <\/b>a situation that has led to a 10 per cent reduction in livestock numbers over the last ten years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accordingly, the Strategy sets out five priorities for action. The first is the development of a resilient and crisis-ready livestock sector<\/strong><\/span>. This means working with the European Investment Bank to develop climate-related insurance schemes and to support animal disease risk management. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In second place is competitiveness<\/strong>: to ensure the sector\u2019s prosperity, the plan encourages technological innovation and promotes new income opportunities for farmers through the circular economy, renewable energy and the production of organic products. <\/span><\/p>\n

The third is sustainability<\/strong>. <\/strong>With a view to reducing emissions and protecting the environment, the strategy aims to use policy instruments, research and innovation to further reduce environmental externalities. Taking into account Europe\u2019s diverse circumstances, it also promotes a tailored approach. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next comes territorial balance<\/strong>: the Commission intends to tackle depopulation and land abandonment in vulnerable rural areas, particularly along its eastern borders. At this stage, support from an EU Observatory on Territorial and Demographic Policies is envisaged.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, excellence<\/strong>. The EU intends to reward farmers who adhere to high standards for animal welfare and carbon emissions reduction. This also includes a proposal to phase out the use of cages for certain livestock and to ensure that imported products meet EU standards. The aim is to develop \u201ca European system of excellence\u201d and a \u201cBuy European\u201d campaign. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, with regard to the Protein Plan<\/strong>, the Commission aims to increase the share of protein crops produced in the EU (soya and pulses) for animal feed, raising it from the current 25 per cent to 35 per cent by 2035. Hansen concluded the press conference by stating that, according to the FAO, the EU\u2019s livestock sector is already the most efficient in the world, but that this success story is now at risk. \u201cWe must move beyond polarising debates and focus on practical solutions,\u201d he concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The text aims to strengthen European food security and support rural communities, particularly in regions at risk of depopulation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":459109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25709],"tags":[25871,34743,25868,25903,29570,33394],"class_list":["post-459131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agrifood-en","tag-bestiame","tag-animal-breeding-en","tag-farmers-en","tag-hansen-en","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459132,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459131\/revisions\/459132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}