Securing Europe’s Food Future: Balancing Sustainability, Competitiveness, and Resilience in the Agri-Food Sector

Executive Summary

Europe’s agri-food sector stands at a pivotal crossroads, facing intensifying pressure from ambitious environmental regulation, geopolitical instability, labour shortages, and structural investment gaps. While the EU’s sustainability agenda—embodied in the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy—sets important long-term goals, its implementation risks placing disproportionate burdens on smaller and less-capitalised producers, particularly in Eastern and Southern Europe. At the same time, internal market fragmentation and growing competition from imports produced under lower standards threaten the competitiveness and cohesion of the EU food system. Drawing on the case of Poland, this white paper emphasize the need for a more balanced and pragmatic approach—one that safeguards economic viability while advancing sustainability, strengthens the Single Market through greater regulatory coherence, and prioritises investment in infrastructure and workforce development to build lasting resilience across the agri-food chain.

See the full report: Securing Europe’s Food Future: Balancing Sustainability, Competitiveness, and Resilience in the Agri-Food Sector