Research

AgRI 2040 and Food 2040, the EU’s research agenda

October 16, 2026

The European Commission adopted on 8 September 2026 a Communication on a ‘New Strategic Approach to Research and Innovation for competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, forestry, rural areas and food systems‘ (European Commission, 2026). The document updates the 2016 strategic approach to agricultural research and the Food 2030 framework. It sets out two linked frameworks, AgRI 2040 for agriculture, forestry and rural areas and Food 2040 for food systems, including fisheries and aquaculture.

Table of Contents

The starting point, excellent science and a weak market return

Rural areas are home to 25% of the EU population and cover more than 75% of its territory, and the Commission regards them as drivers of sustainable growth and innovation. Forests and other wooded land cover nearly 44% of the EU’s territory. The Communication describes them as essential for health, biodiversity, rural livelihoods, cultural heritage, economic prosperity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the prevention of future environmental and health crises (European Commission, 2026).

Official statistics show the size of the agri-food sector. In 2023, according to Eurostat:

309,000 food and beverage processing enterprises employed 4.8 million people and generated €299 billion of value added;
agriculture employed 8.4 million people, or 3.9% of the EU workforce;
wholesale, retail and food service enterprises employed 17.1 million people, with €549 billion of value added (Eurostat, 2025).

Together these segments account for about 30 million jobs, which the Commission puts at 15% of EU employment (European Commission, 2026). In 2024, extra-EU trade in agricultural, fishery, food and beverage products showed exports of €226 billion against imports of €190 billion, a trade surplus of €36 billion (Eurostat, 2025).

The diagnosis is less reassuring. European research is of high quality, but its results do not translate into proportionate gains in productivity, sustainability and resource efficiency. The Commission reports that agri-food tech investment in Europe fell by 67% between 2020 and 2024 (European Commission, 2026). Market data point the same way: in 2024 global funding stabilised at about USD 16 billion, while much of Europe remained markedly down (AgFunder, 2025). The Commission also notes the barriers that keep small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups out of Horizon Europe projects. These include fragmented funding, regulatory complexity and weak support at higher technology readiness levels (TRLs).

From lab to fab

The first block of actions aims to make EU-funded projects more business-oriented. Calls for proposals will include market elements, private sector experts will take part in evaluations, and cascade funding and simpler procedures will lower entry barriers for startups. The Commission will also explore ‘scale-up pathways’ that link funding instruments across stages of development. These pathways will connect Horizon Europe with the future European Competitiveness Fund and its InvestEU instrument (European Commission, 2026).

Further tools include a renewed fast-track-to-innovation scheme with smaller consortia and shorter time-to-grant. There will also be rapid top-up funding for promising results and innovation vouchers for access to incubators, accelerators, Living Labs and pilot plants. The Commission’s Joint Research Centre will run a new Science for Policy Centre on agri-food innovation and transformation (European Commission, 2026).

Regulatory learning and risk assessment

The Communication calls for further research on risk assessment methodologies and for closer cooperation with EU risk assessors, notably the European Food Safety Authority. It also calls for wider use of regulatory sandboxes. The stated purpose is to draw regulatory lessons that may support adjustments to data requirements for pre-market authorisations of plant protection products, feed and food, including products derived from genetically modified organisms (European Commission, 2026).

One limit should be noted. The proposed European Biotech Act, to which the Communication refers for food-chain sandboxes, excludes novel foods from their scope. Several industry associations argued that the exclusion is ‘not justified on legal, scientific or innovation grounds’ (FoodDrinkEurope, 2026). The novel food procedure is the main pathway for innovative ingredients. For this reason, much of the ‘regulatory learning’ sought by the Commission depends on how the co-legislators settle this point.

Knowledge uptake by farmers and foresters

Farmers adopt innovations more readily when the innovations are co-created with them, tested under real conditions and backed by advisory services. The multi-actor approach has become mandatory in more than 70% of relevant calls under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. Its implementation, however, remains uneven (European Commission, 2026). The open consultation that preceded the Communication confirmed that stakeholders want targeted improvements to the uptake of research results and a clearer route from research to startups and scale-ups (Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, 2026).

Generational renewal weighs on this task. In 2020, 32.6% of EU farm managers were aged 65 or over, while only 12.2% were younger than 40 (Eurostat, 2025). The planned measures cover harmonised terminology and monitoring for the multi-actor approach and Living Labs. They also include fair pay for farmers who take part in projects, a map of testing and demonstration sites, and stronger links with the networks of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and with the Operational Groups of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) (European Commission, 2026).

Food technology, fermentation and supply security

On food technology, the Commission identifies a shortage of contract manufacturing capacity at industrial scale (TRL 8-9) for fermentation-based technologies, which concerns food and feed ingredients alike. This is the ‘second valley of death’, between pilot or demonstration scale and the market. The Commission will encourage private investment in open-access pilot and demonstration bioprocessing infrastructure, so that SMEs can de-risk their processes without prohibitive capital outlays (European Commission, 2026).

Supply security is a stated objective. Domestic value chains for vitamins, amino acids and enzymes should reduce external dependencies. Digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) should also help reduce food loss and waste, strengthen food safety surveillance and traceability, and counter food fraud. Research on the link between diet and health will address cardiometabolic and neurological diseases, including personalised nutrition (European Commission, 2026).

Six cross-cutting priorities

Both frameworks will be guided by six initial priorities (European Commission, 2026):

competitiveness, startups and scale-ups;
food security, resilience and preparedness, in line with the EU preparedness union strategy and the protein action plan;
natural resources and circularity, including the prevention of food loss and waste, in line with the objectives of the EU bioeconomy strategy, the Nature Restoration Regulation and the upcoming Circular Economy Act;
food and feed safety, nutrition and health, with food chain integrity (authenticity, traceability, transparency, and the prevention and detection of food fraud) and challenges such as malnutrition and resource depletion;
fairness, including a fair distribution of value, risks and costs along the chain;
global cooperation, notably with the African Union and with partners in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Neighbourhood.

Governance, technologies (with AI and biotechnology in front) and the involvement of territories and communities act as common enablers of the strategy.

The areas of action

AgRI 2040 sets out eight preliminary areas. These cover soil, water and nutrients; cropping systems; livestock systems; the bioeconomy; multi-functional forests; rural areas; a stronger agri-food value chain; and digitalisation, AI and robotics. Support for EU quality schemes, organic production and geographical indications is expressly listed as a way to strengthen farmers’ position in the chain (European Commission, 2026). The same objective underlies the latest reform of the common market organisation (CMO) on ‘fair’, ‘equitable’ and ‘short supply chain’ claims and written contracts, examined in a previous Food Times article.

Within cropping systems, the Communication calls for wider use of plant breeding, biotechnology and genetic resources ‘with due consideration of the legal and policy context’ (European Commission, 2026). That context now includes the NGT Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (NGTs). The Regulation was published on 26 June 2026 and entered into force on 16 July 2026, and its rules will apply two years later (Reg. EU 2026/1388). It distinguishes category 1 NGT plants, which are treated as equivalent to conventional plants, from category 2 NGT plants, which remain subject to authorisation with risk assessment and labelling. NGT plants are not allowed in organic farming.

Food 2040 lists six areas. These are place-based food systems; healthy and sustainable diets, with a marked focus on microbiome science; resource efficiency and zero pollution, including packaging; food environments and consumer empowerment; the scaling of innovations and fair business models; and aquatic food (European Commission, 2026). The stakeholder input gathered for Food 2040 was analysed in a previous Food Times article.

Timeline and open questions

The annex lists 19 key actions, which start between the fourth quarter of 2026 and the end of 2028. The first AgRI 2040 conference, scheduled for 24-25 September 2026, was designed to co-create the areas of action with stakeholders. The first high-level Food 2040 conference is planned for the fourth quarter of 2028 (European Commission, 2026).

The Communication states repeatedly that it does not prejudge the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2028-2034. Its ambition therefore depends on budget negotiations that are still open, and on the place that agri-food research will hold within the European Competitiveness Fund.

Concluding remarks

The new strategic approach treats research as a lever for competitiveness and strategic autonomy, alongside sustainability goals ‘within planetary boundaries’ (European Commission, 2026). Its most concrete points concern the ‘innovation to investment’ journey. These include scale-up infrastructure for fermentation, faster funding for startups and closer dialogue between innovators and risk assessors. Outcomes will depend on two variables outside the text itself: the funds allocated under the next MFF, and whether regulatory pathways for novel foods, NGT plants and other biotech-derived products actually become faster.

Dario Dongo

References

EU legislation

Regulation (EU) 2026/1388 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2026 on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their products, and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/625. OJ L, 2026/1388, 26.6.2026. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2026/1388/oj

EU institutional documents and official statistics

Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. (2026). Future-proofing EU agri-food through research and innovation: Summary of results of the open consultation. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2762/2404939

European Commission. (2026, September 8). New strategic approach to research and innovation for competitive, resilient and sustainable agriculture, forestry, rural areas and food systems: Future-proofing EU agri-food through AgRI 2040 and Food 2040 (Communication COM/2026/453 final). https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/api/files/COM(2026)453_0/090166e53320192d

Eurostat. (2025). Key figures on the European food chain – 2025 edition. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2785/8194502