Letter from Brussels - August 2026

The long-awaited EU Commission Livestock Strategy has finally landed. It is basically a commitment from Brussels to support the livestock sector into the future. The first takeaway is that nowhere in the 21-page document is there a suggestion to reduce cattle numbers. This is a far cry from the soundings coming from the same corridors less than a decade ago. In fact, the bovine population across Europe has declined by 10 per cent since 2005. While the strategy does recognise the impact that livestock has on emissions, it also recognises the value of a sustainable livestock system to rural areas across the EU.
If anything, the aim of this strategy is to put the livestock sector on the right footing to withstand the many challenges that exist. Low profitability and rising costs, changing market conditions, and outbreaks of animal diseases have prompted this pledge from the EU Commission.
It estimates that livestock farming employs seven million people across the EU, generating €400bn in turnover. The strategy proposes to help farmers rely less on imports and more on domestic resources, reduce emissions, preserve food safety, and improve animal welfare. It talks about developing harmonised methodology to calculate livestock emissions on farms and even proposes developing mobile slaughterhouses to reduce animal transport and regenerate rural areas.
Nice words like ‘sustainability’, ‘resilience’, and ‘competitiveness’ are sprinkled throughout the strategic plan but, of course, these goals can only be achieved through proper funding. Interestingly, it talks about reducing risk exposure, enabling farmers to recover more quickly after crisis. This will include exploring ‘a new scheme for insurance and re-insurance’. The livestock strategy was published the same day as the protein strategy, which aims to make the EU more self-sufficient by increasing EU-grown protein from 25 per cent in 2025 to 35 per cent by 2035. One chimes with the other.
Reaction included a cautious welcome from the farmer groups and disappointment from the green NGOs, which tell its own story. But it was somewhat of a one-day wonder and gentle distraction from the bigger focus, which, of course, is the debate over the multiannual financial framework and the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget where all eyes have now refocussed.
It falls to the Irish presidency to navigate those choppy waters over the next few months. The livestock strategy is noble in its ambition but like everything else, unless the Commission is willing to have another look at the proposed CAP budget cuts, it will send out the signal that it is merely paying lip service to livestock farmers.