The EU’s term 2024–25: What sports foods businesses should expect from the new policy cycle?

This summer marked the start of a new political era in the EU, with the European elections in June and the reappointment of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission in July. In addition to exploring some of the new Commission's policy ambitions impacting the sector this article also evaluates their realism by considering the outcomes of the previous Commission cycle and the new political landscape in Brussels following the EU elections’ result. Here’s everything the industry should expect on the Commission’s shift in their policy ambitions.

The Commission’s Political Guidelines: a shift in focus on sustainability ​

On 18 July, von der Leyen was re-elected President of the European Commission. In her inaugural address to the European Parliament, she outlined her plans for the next five years – as stated in the Commission’s Political Guidelines 2024-2029 - including her transformed proposals on sustainability. Unlike the previous cycle, von der Leyen’s sustainability narrative focused on promoting business and competition.

For instance, von der Leyen has committed to introducing the Clean Industrial Plan in the first 100 days of the Commission’s mandate as part of the EU’s efforts to decarbonise and industrialise its economy simultaneously. According to von der Leyen, the Commission’s full focus will be on supporting and creating the right conditions for companies to reach their sustainability goals, set out in the previous policy cycle. Through investment, in raw materials, and ensuring access to cheap, sustainable, and secure energy supplies, the Commission hopes these measures will support businesses to achieve the sustainability goals it previously set out.  This will work alongside von der Leyen’s proposed Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act to further support industries and businesses sustainably transition towards a more environmentally clean format.  

These policies will play a major role for sports and nutrition businesses as they try to incorporate previous sustainability policies, reports, and regulations into their business framework. The above policies intend to make green energy and raw materials for products cheaper, more accessible and produced in the EU, thereby helping companies bring down their carbon footprint with low increased costs, alongside promoting internal EU markets and boosting the competitiveness of the EU’s entire food value chain and SMEs in the sector.

How will the new European Parliament impact von Der Leyen’s plans?​

While the new Commission has announced ambitious plans for business and competitive policy, the question remains how this will be shaped when it is finally implemented. It is worth noting that the previous Commission’s mandate either delayed or failed to fully implement targets set in key policy initiatives affecting the food industry, such as the Farm to Fork Strategy, including the Sustainable Food Systems Framework, which seems to have been put indefinitely on hold.

Arguably, the previous Commission’s failure to bring the European Parliament on board with its policy ambitions – finding once the policy had been published, many conflicts in the Parliament to compromise and resolve issues - is a cause for these ambitions failing. For instance, the attempted introduction of mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) and nutrient profiles – another two measures from the Farm to Fork Strategy impacting the sports and active nutrition industry – were postponed due to cultural differences across the EU 27 member states on what constitutes a healthy diet.

In this context, our expectations from the Political Guidelines 2024-2029 supporting EU food supply chains and developing cheap, accessible, and sustainable energy should be toned down if we consider the past Commission actions along with the recent parliamentary election results.

The European Parliament elections in June saw the moderate-right as the clear winner, while the left and Greens lost ground to the pro-nationalist right groups. With an overall more Eurosceptic and populist Parliament, food and sustainability harmonisation will likely be inhibited or curtailed over the next five years by this political shift. Despite its ambitious plans, in the end, the Commission might have to introduce more diluted proposals to ensure consensus and appease the growing national populism. This will invariably make it harder and more costly to achieve the sustainability aims previously set out and may hinder the ambition to improve and promote EU food supply chains.

Looking ahead, November and December will be crucial for businesses and industry stakeholders, as the European Commission's Work Programme is set to be released during this period. This publication will provide crucial insights into the Commission's legislative agenda, offering detailed guidance on upcoming policies that will impact the sports nutrition industry including policies on food, sustainability, competitiveness, and agriculture.

In any case, now is the best time for sports and active nutrition businesses to build relationships with the decision-makers who took office and make sure they have a say on policy and regulatory initiatives affecting them. 

In September, in conjunction with members, ESSNA will launch an outreach programme, outlining the priorities for the sports and active nutrition industry for the EU’s term 2024 – 2029. Sports foods companies interested in finding out more and shaping the future of the sector can get in touch with ESSNA at vasb@rffan.pbz​