Sustainability & Food – EU Regulatory Outlook 2025

This blog was originally published in July 2024. It was updated in June 2025.

Food regulations in the European Union (EU) form an extensive legislative framework. They are designed to ensure food safety, to protect consumer interests and to maintain the EU’s high standards for food quality. In the past year, policy developments related to the EU Green Deal have aimed to integrate sustainability, environmental protection and climate resilience into this broader landscape, with an enhanced focus on reducing administrative burdens affecting competitiveness in the EU. Key regulatory initiatives proposed as part of the EU Green Deal are the Farm to Fork Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, Fit for 55 plan, Circularity Action Plan, and - the most recent addition – the Vision for Agriculture and Food.

The 2025 update to our report considers proposed and finalised Regulations and Directives introduced as part of the EU Green Deal. It provides:

• an overview of the context of the EU Green Deal, including updates to progress made on implementation and timelines;
• details of the EU Commission’s recently published Vision for Agriculture and Food, and the impact of the Omnibus Packages on legislation affecting the food sector;
• a summary of other relevant regulatory initiatives and a categorisation of how they affect supply chain actors and commodities;
• a high-level overview of each regulatory initiative; and
• impact tables that identify per Regulation or Directive where the greatest impact is for different business functions.

The EU sustainability legislation covered in this report catalyses the need for action by companies, from understanding legal obligations, to implementing systems and adopting technologies to achieve compliance, and creating value for your business.

The author would like to thank Iris Mol and Laura Mackay for their substantial contributions to this article.