Working Group Meeting: Agriculture, Nutrition and Consumers (AgriNutriCom)

On 6 November 2025, SME Connect Working Group on Agriculture, Nutrition and Consumers (AgriNutriCom) came together to discuss the key files shaping the EU’s food and farming agenda. The meeting was hosted by the Chair of the Working Group, Kristian Vigenin MEP, Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety; Committee on Public Health.

The meeting gathered stakeholders from the politics as well as retail, specialised and supplementary nutrition, public health, national food industry, and academia. Under the discussion was the 2026 European Commission Work Programme, the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture, the planned “Buy European Food” campaign, and upcoming initiatives on food & feed safety, labelling, water resilience, and cardiovascular health and nutrition.

Participants highlighted that the current regulatory environment remains highly complex for SMEs across the agri-food value chain. While the planned Omnibus simplification package mainly addresses primary production, many burdens for food business operators, retailers, supplement producers and innovators remain unchanged. Concerns were also raised over slow and unpredictable EFSA procedures, risks of market distortion linked to a “Buy European Food” campaign, and information overload for consumers through ever-expanding on-pack labelling.

The group called for broader simplification, including clearer, more transparent approval processes, balanced communication campaigns that do not harm SME partners in third countries, and a more pragmatic labelling approach that uses digital tools instead of crowding physical labels. As next steps, members will submit concrete case examples of regulatory delays and administrative burdens, exchange existing evidence and position papers, and explore a follow-up session focused on EFSA and innovation bottlenecks, supported by targeted outreach to relevant Commission services.