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European Commission co-finances and also directly organizes campaigns and events to promote EU farm products worldwide. This is carried out under the slogan “Enjoy, it’s from Europe”, which aims to raise awareness of the efforts made by European farmers to produce quality products. These promotional activities help boost their profile on EU and international markets, in line with the EU-wide promotion policy.
Background
The EU and world-wide promotion policy work program for 2025, recently adopted by the Commission, is designed to develop new market opportunities for EU farmers and the wider EU food industry, as well as to help them secure their existing business.
European Commission created a portal which aims to raise awareness of all the EU initiatives either to co-finances or directly organize promotion for a great variety of EU-wide agricultural products.
The new portal informs about EU agri-food products, their quality and safety, EU quality schemes and the EU organic label. The EU agricultural products are prized for their quality around the world. They are associated with great variety coming from a multitude of landscapes, and renowned for combining centuries of traditional production methods with the highest standards of safety and environmental sustainability: i.e. from farm to fork.
More in: https://enjoy-its-from-europe.campaign.europa.eu/en
Promoting farmers and the EU-wider food industry
In mid-December 2024, the Commission allocated €132 million for 2025 to co-fund promotion activities for sustainable and high-quality EU agri-food products in the internal market and worldwide.
Commission-2025 promotion policy work program is designed to develop new market opportunities for EU farmers and the wider EU food industry, as well as to help them secure their existing business. Its priorities take into account the overarching objectives of sustainability and competitiveness, as well as food security, outlined in the Commission Political Guidelines for 2024-2029.
On Guidance in: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683-f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf
The EU argro-program for 2025
The adoption of the 2025 work program also marks 10 years of EU promotion policy: during the decade, over 600 campaigns have been co-financed by the European Commission with their common signature – “Enjoy, it’s from Europe”-, supporting the reputation of EU agri-food products within the Union and around the world.
The amounts available for programs to be selected in 2025 are split between promotion in non-EU countries and in the EU internal market, with €63.4 million and €58.6 million respectively.
The 2025-work program identifies regions and countries with high growth potential outside the EU as main promotion target markets. These include China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and North America. The United Kingdom remains one of the main export markets for EU agri-food products, absorbing more than 20% of EU agri-food exports.
Distributing the budget
The budget for the EU’s internal market is distributed as follows:
= Campaigns targeting the internal market will include information and promotion measures focused on the EU’s quality schemes, in particular Geographical Indications (protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI) and traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG)) with an earmarked budget of €17.1 million. More than 3,500 names of agri-food products and beverages are currently protected, guaranteeing consumers genuine products and preserving EU’s cultural and culinary heritage.
= A budget of €28.8 million is allocated to programmes aiming at increasing awareness and recognition or products farmed organically and sustainably, including with higher animal welfare standards.
= About €12.7 million is devoted to stimulate the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in the context of balanced diets.
= Additional €10 million is set aside for actions in case of serious market disturbance, loss of consumer confidence or other problems; this budget is reallocated to programs in third countries if unused.
Finally, the work program also foresees a number of initiatives to be run directly by the European Commission. Such activities include promotion and information campaigns in third countries, participation in up to five major international agri-food trade fairs, the organisation of high-level missions with business delegations to third countries and the development of market entry handbooks for exporters.
Perspectives
The European Research Executive Agency, REA will launch two calls for proposals in January 2025: one for the so-called ‘simple’ programs, with one or more organisations from the same EU country (with €92 million); another one for ‘multi’ programs (with €40 million), with at least two organisations from at least two EU member states, or from one or more European-level organisation.
A wide range of operators, such as trade and producer organisations and agri-food groups responsible for promotion activities are eligible to apply for funding and submit their proposals. The calls will be open for applications for a period of three months. A map of all promotion and information campaigns and an “eligibility checker” is available on the new “Enjoy, It’s from Europe” portal.
An information day will take place in Brussels and online on 29 and 30 January 2025. Potential beneficiaries are invited to attend to gain insights on the funding opportunities and the application process. They will have the opportunity to hear from successful beneficiaries as well as network with potential project partners.
More in REA and agro-promotion in: https://rea.ec.europa.eu/funding-and-grants/promotion-agricultural-products-0_en
Citation
“The EU’s agri-food sector is a global export powerhouse. Our products and culinary heritage are renowned all over the world, and rightly so. I am delighted that we can keep promoting them next year with a budget worth €132 million. We can be proud of the way we produce food here in the EU. “Enjoy, it’s from Europe” is our brand and we need to make sure it is recognized and understood across the globe, to get the best value for our farmers and producers”.
Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6421