From 1 July to 31 December 2025 Denmark holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (“EU Council”). This role is a cornerstone of EU policymaking, as the presidency represents the EU Council in its functions and in its dealings with other EU institutions: negotiating legislative texts with the European Parliament (the other co-legislator) and engaging with the European Commission (the EU’s executive branch). This offers a unique opportunity for member states to help shape and drive forward the EU Council’s agenda and, by extension, the EU’s broader agenda, thereby translating EU priorities into concrete and formal results.
Under the slogan ‘A strong Europe in a changing world’, the Danish presidency works toward a secure, competitive, and green Europe. Within the food and agricultural sector, Denmark has in this context set ambitious priorities. According to the Danish Presidency’s official programme, it will “focus on simplification and better regulation within the EU’s agriculture, food, and fisheries policies.” Through this approach, the Danish Presidency aims to promote innovation and competitiveness in the agricultural and food sectors by focusing on product development and ensuring a level playing field within the EU. Below are a few highlights of the Danish Presidency’s impact on the food and agricultural sector thus far.
As part of the broader political goal to enhance the EU’s competitiveness, the EU Council and the European Parliament concluded a provisional agreement in November 2025 on simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) under the auspices of the Danish EU Presidency. The simplification measures consist of Commission revisions to current legal acts, collectively known as Omnibus III.
These revisions aim to alleviate some of the administrative and regulatory burdens on farmers during the current CAP programming period. Key highlights of the simplification include: increased flexibility for categorizing farmland under good agricultural and environmental conditions, higher maximum levels of financial support for small farmers, and reduced on-the-spot inspections and annual performance clearance requirements. In addition, organic farmers are automatically considered to meet a number of green requirements that are already part of their operating methods.
The provisional agreement must now be confirmed by the Council and the European Parliament before the legislative act is formally adopted by the co-legislators. As discussions on the Common Agricultural Policy post-2027 are currently underway in the EU Council, these legislative developments during the remaining period of CAP 2023-2027 will provide valuable insights for ongoing negotiations under the Danish Presidency regarding the post-2027 CAP and its aim of achieving regulatory fitness and flexibility through simplification while maintaining a green and innovation-friendly approach.
For the first time at the EU Council level, the Danish Presidency has focused on advancing collaboration and implementation of the One Health approach, acknowledging the need for sustainable balance in the interdependence between human, animal, plant, and environmental health.
This approach is crucial for ensuring health, food safety, and environmental protection in the EU and globally. The conference therefore explored policy solutions for infectious disease prevention, antimicrobial resistance, and sustainable food systems. Against this backdrop, the Danish Presidency held the One Health Conference in November in Copenhagen, gathering experts across the spectrum to a set of recommendations: ‘Copenhagen Recommendations on One Health Collaboration – Solutions and Practical Steps’.
The Danish Presidency has held high-level summits on both BioSolutions in September (the BioSolutions High Level Summit) and innovative protein supply in October (the Plant Food Summit) to underscore the EU-level importance of continued product development toward a more sustainable food system.
Moreover, new genomic techniques (NGTs) can play a central role in the development of resilient crops and contribute to more sustainable food production. On 4 December 2025, political negotiations on a new regulation governing NGTs culminated in a provisional agreement between the Council and the European Parliament. Subject to formal adoption of the agreed regulation by the Council and the European Parliament, the regulation is set to be published in the Official Journal during the course of 2026 and will start applying two years later.
In late November 2025, the Council and the European Parliament struck a provisional agreement to improve the welfare and traceability of cats and dogs across Europe. The agreement will set minimum welfare and traceability requirements at the EU level for the first time.
On 16 December 2025, the European Commission proposed a package of measures to streamline and simplify EU food and feed safety legislation across areas such as plant protection products, biocidal products, feed, official controls, and animal health and welfare. The legislative proposal will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council for adoption, although not during the Danish Presidency.
These developments represent both immediate practical changes and longer-term strategic shifts in EU food and agricultural policy. In the short term, the Omnibus III simplification measures will reduce administrative burdens and provide greater operational flexibility, particularly for small-scale and organic farmers.
Looking ahead, while the high-level summits, provisional agreements and policy initiatives have yet to translate into binding legislation, they signal important shifts that stakeholders in the food and agricultural sector should monitor closely.
The Danish Presidency’s focus on One Health, BioSolutions, NGTs and alternative proteins indicates where regulatory frameworks are likely to evolve, creating both compliance obligations and commercial opportunities. Early preparation in these areas will position stakeholders to capitalize on opportunities in these emerging or evolving sectors of growing importance while ensuring compliance with evolving requirements.
As of 1 January 2026, Cyprus will assume the EU Presidency as part of the trio presidency alongside Poland and Denmark.