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European Vegetarian Union

EVU

The European Vegetarian Union is the umbrella organization for vegan and vegetarian associations in Europe.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Oct 2025 · Agricultural Policy

Meeting with Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Sept 2025 · Transition alimentaire

Meeting with Valérie Hayer (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Sept 2025 · protein crops

Meeting with Rasmus Nordqvist (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Jul 2025 · Plant based value chain

Meeting with Ricard Ramon I Sumoy (Acting Head of Unit Agriculture and Rural Development)

18 Jun 2025 · Presentation of Blueprint for an EU Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods, Exchange of views on protein diversification, plant-based foods and the Common Agricultural Policy post-2027

Meeting with Philippe Lamberts (Principal Adviser Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action)

11 Jun 2025 · Place of plant-based products in the EU's diet in view of the next CAP

Meeting with Thomas Waitz (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Jun 2025 · Future CAP

Meeting with Veronika Vrecionová (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

29 Jan 2025 · Future of CAP, Plant Protein Strategy

Meeting with Biljana Borzan (Member of the European Parliament)

5 Nov 2024 · Alternative proteins/plant-based food

Meeting with Michal Wiezik (Member of the European Parliament) and ProVeg CIC

31 Oct 2024 · Plant agricultural sector

Meeting with Cristina Guarda (Member of the European Parliament) and ProVeg CIC

22 Oct 2024 · Food

Meeting with Anna Strolenberg (Member of the European Parliament) and ProVeg CIC

16 Oct 2024 · Sustainable food system transition

Meeting with Maria Noichl (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Oct 2024 · GAP, Proteinstrategie

Meeting with Anja Hazekamp (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Oct 2024 · Diner

Meeting with Katarína Roth Neveďalová (Member of the European Parliament) and ProVeg CIC

8 Oct 2024 · Sustainable food production

Meeting with Anja Hazekamp (Member of the European Parliament) and ProVeg CIC

25 Sept 2024 · Priorities EU agrifood policies

Response to 8th Environment Action Programme – Mid-term Review

25 Jan 2024

Please see the file attached.
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Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and European farmers and

27 Jun 2023 · Fit for 55

Meeting with Joanna Stawowy (Cabinet of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski) and Plant-Based Foods Europe

21 Nov 2022 · Ongoing legislative initiatives on the plant-based food sector

Meeting with Alin Mituța (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

7 Oct 2022 · School Scheme

Meeting with Marc Tarabella (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

28 Sept 2022 · School scheme

Meeting with Salvatore De Meo (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

28 Sept 2022 · School Scheme

Meeting with Janusz Wojciechowski (Commissioner) and

26 Oct 2021 · Review of the EU agricultural promotion policy

Response to Sustainable food system – setting up an EU framework

22 Oct 2021

The European Vegetarian Union (EVU) welcomes this initiative to make the EU food system sustainable and to integrate sustainability into all food-related policies. We believe that this initiative and impact assessment will offer clarity and clearer insight into the best direction the EU can take towards creating a sustainable food system. Combating climate change and reversing biodiversity loss is a whole-of-society undertaking and one of the most pressing issues we must confront is developing an agricultural and food sector that is both sustainable and affordable. As the world faces the mounting pressures of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation, the need to transition to a sustainable economy has become increasingly urgent. Currently, EU agricultural practices are unsustainable. 10.3% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, over half of which comes from the animal agriculture sector. Livestock consumes precious resources and directly and indirectly contributes to the destruction of ecosystems — both for grazing and the demand for cheap livestock feed, often grown abroad under unsustainable conditions. This initiative acknowledges the regulatory and market shortcomings that make transitioning to a sustainable food and agricultural sector difficult. In order to have a just transition, we believe that interventions should be taken to ensure the greatest access to nutritious and appealing plant-based foods for all Europeans. We welcome this initiative and inception impact assessment as a necessary first step towards bold change. Please find our detailed consultation feedback attached.
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Response to Review of the EU school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme - EU aid

27 Jul 2021

EVU welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the review of the EU's school fruit, vegetables, and milk scheme. Please find our detailed feedback position attached.
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Response to Information and promotion measures for agricultural and food products in the internal market and in non-EU countries

9 Mar 2021

The European vegetarian movement, represented by its umbrella organisation European Vegetarian Union (EVU), welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the inception impact assessment for the review of the policy on promotion of EU farm and food products “with a view to enhancing its contribution to sustainable production and consumption, and in line with the shift to a more plant-based diet, with less red and processed meat and more fruit and vegetables”. EVU believes that the promotion policy, if revised, offers opportunities to contribute to a paradigm shift in the food system. A paradigm shift in the food system and eating habits of Europeans is needed. The Commission’s promotion programme for farm and food products can and should play a part in this transition. EVU proposes that the programme focuses on the promotion of plant-based foods and healthy and sustainable diets. Policy option 2 offers some points of contact for this goal. The support of sustainable agricultural production and consumption in line with ‘Farm to Fork’ and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan’ should entail redirecting the focus on the whole picture of diets, not just single food products and taking a critical look at meat, especially red and processed meats, as both publications mention either the overconsumption of meat or the need to increase the plant-based share of peoples’ diets. Policy option 3 goes even further and leaves room for the exclusion of certain agricultural products. Under this option, it could be argued that meat and other livestock products should be left out of promotional subsidies entirely. Using public money for the promotion of foods that are unsustainable both from a health and environmental perspective under current consumption patterns cannot be justified. Recent meat promotion campaigns supported by the programme showed conflicts of economic and public health interests. Reduced consumption levels of certain types of meat were brought forward as justification for the need for support, but the numbers still showed a much higher average intake than the recommended amount. Additionally, EVU is of the opinion that any kind of promotion of food products should be accompanied or even comprise entirely of extensive and long-term information and image campaigns surrounding dietary guidelines, health recommendations, the climate impact of diets, and the positive aspects of plant-based foods, in order to give consumers a more holistic understanding of agriculture and food. In conclusion, EVU would recommend a mixture of policy options 2 and 3, taking into account current unsustainable dietary habits and contributing to a paradigm shift in the food system. Please find more background and details attached.
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Response to Revision of EU marketing standards for agricultural products

15 Feb 2021

Please find the detailed feedback of the European Vegetarian Union on the EU marketing standards for agricultural products attached.
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Response to Setting of nutrient profiles

1 Feb 2021

The European vegetarian movement, represented by its umbrella organisation European Vegetarian Union (EVU), welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the revision of rules on information provided to consumers as part of the EU’s ‘farm-to-fork’ strategy. Plant-based diets and their regulatory representation are an often overlooked aspect on the road to more sustainability within the food system. Please find EVU's detailed feedback in attachment.
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Response to Empowering the consumer for the green transition

21 Aug 2020

Please find the feedback of the European Vegetarian Union attached.
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Response to Farm to Fork Strategy

27 Feb 2020

The European vegetarian movement, represented by its umbrella organisation European Vegetarian Union (EVU), would like to seize upon the present consultation to outline its vision for a “Farm-to-Fork Strategy”. EVU calls for a paradigm shift in food and agriculture policy, aimed at reducing livestock production and the consumption of animal-based products while, at the same time, boosting the production of plant-based products for human consumption. For this purpose, concrete targets, impactful measures, and clear timelines must be defined by EU policymakers. These must culminate in an EU-wide reduction strategy for animal products. Additionally, CAP needs to be aligned with F2F, as around 70% of the EU’s farmland is currently used to feed livestock, with respective CAP direct payments amounting to 28-32 Billion € per year. CAP subsidies must be targeted at aligning agricultural production with sustainability and climate targets such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. A general dietary shift towards more plant-based food sources is urgently needed for health, climate and environment, as well as animal-welfare related reasons. Plant-based products generally compare favourably when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. For example, a kilogram of protein from beef generates 45 to 640 kg of CO2 equivalents, while the same amount of protein from tofu generates only 10 kg of CO2 equivalents. Moreover, in many European countries, the average meat consumption far exceeds what is recommended by nutritional guidelines. The excessive consumption of meat can increase the risk of developing type-2-diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. As the outlines of the F2F Strategy suggest improving animal welfare standards throughout the EU, reducing the consumption of animal-based products opens up possibilities for improvements in animal welfare. As European citizens are increasingly concerned about the conditions in intensive animal husbandry, raising fewer animals can enable improved animal-welfare standards that are more in line with what consumers expect and demand. This dietary shift needs regulatory framework improvements, in order to “empower consumers to make sustainable food choices”. Firstly, as recognition of the importance of plant-based eating and as a consumer guidance measurement, the implementing act defining vegetarian and vegan food has to be swiftly adopted. Secondly, the EU should refrain from introducing bans on sales denominations for veggie alternatives that reference their “meaty” counterparts, in order not to make it harder for interested consumers to identify more sustainable choices. Thirdly, “promoting healthy and sustainable diets” should include extensive and long-term information and image campaigns surrounding dietary guidelines, health recommendations, the climate impact of diets, and the positive aspects of plant-based foods in public spaces such as canteens and schools, while, at the same time, spending public money on the marketing of meat products should be carefully re-evaluated. EVU is glad to see the Commission has identified the need for “new innovative food products” and “alternative sources of protein”. The market for plant-based alternative protein foods in the EU has significantly increased over the last years and is still expected to grow. Yet, there is still a lot of potential in the development of alternative foods, for example on the basis of pulses, which have positive effects on biodiversity and can be grown locally. EVU calls on the Commission to ensure that a significant amount of funding is made available for research and innovation on plant-based meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood alternatives. EVU urges the Commission to acknowledge that plant-based eating can provide solutions for a multitude of problems our food system currently faces and to grant plant-based diets the required attention in the F2F Strategy.
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Response to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan

24 Feb 2020

The European vegetarian movement, represented by its umbrella organisation European Vegetarian Union (EVU), would like to seize upon the present consultation to stress the link between food and diets and health concerns in the European Union. At the Environment Committee hearing from 18 February 2020, Commissioner Kyriakides stated that the “Farm-to-Fork” strategy cannot be separated from the “Beating Cancer Plan” and that the Commission will work intersectionally across boundaries. EVU very much welcomes this view. Numerous studies have shown that the overconsumption of meat can have serious negative effects on human health. For example, the consumption of red meat (such as pork, beef, veal or lamb) can double the mortality risk. Especially processed meat, which has been heavily salted, cured or conventionally smoked, is being criticised. Additionally, the excessive consumption of meat can increase the risk of developing type-2-diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. At the same time, in many European countries, the average meat consumption far exceeds what is recommended by nutritional guidelines from a health perspective. The latest report of the EAT-Lancet Commission on a sustainable food system that is healthy for both humans and the planet, states that globally the consumption of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts will have to at least double, while the intake of red meat and sugar has to be halved by 2050. The report found that a “diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits”, concluding that a “radical transformation of the global food system is urgently needed.” Moreover, according to Springmann et al. 2016b, it is estimated that global mortality could be reduced by 6-10% if there is a transition to more plant-based diets, in line with the WHO recommendations on healthy eating. We believe that vegetarian diets can significantly contribute to the Commission’s “Beating Cancer Plan”. A rich and varied plant-based diet can offer prevention and treatment of modern lifestyle diseases, including some forms of cancer and hypertension. Therefore, the consumption and production of plant-based foods have to be encouraged and promoted. A great opportunity lies in the numerous public canteens, where millions of meals are distributed each day. Obligatory application of dietary guidelines should be a requirement for menu plans, which would necessarily result in cutting back on meat and offering more plant-based dishes. People should be provided with sufficient information and the option to choose healthier and more climate-friendly meals. Public authorities and political institutions can act as role models by realigning their own canteens, as well as serving healthy, climate-friendly dishes during in-house events. Moreover, extensive and long-term information and image campaigns surrounding dietary guidelines, health recommendations, the climate impact of diets, and the positive aspects of plant-based foods should be launched in public spaces such as canteens and schools. The roadmap on “Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan” states: “There is a need to explore improvements to the management of primary prevention at personal and organisational level” and it acknowledges that tried and tested prevention methods include lifestyle choices such as healthy diets. The “Farm-to-Fork” roadmap meanwhile states: "[...] the Commission will, amongst others, propose actions to help consumers choose healthy and sustainable diets by providing better food information such as on where the food comes from and its nutritional value.” The European Vegetarian Union urges the Commission to consider plant-based diets to play a significant role in achieving this goal and to take appropriate action to promote them, including swiftly adopting the implementing act defining vegetarian and vegan food now that work has started to implement FIC-Regulation.
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Response to Evaluation of marketing standards [Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013]

26 Jul 2017

The EVU suggests to assess whether rules on product denominations in the CMO are still warranted in the light of evolving consumer perceptions and changing dietary behaviours, with regard to growing food sectors which deserve similar consideration as the dairy industry and with a view to establishing more cohesion in EU food information law.
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Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

30 Jan 2015 · The Food Chain, Innovation and Challenges, Food Information to Consumers, Nutrition, and Food Waste, Animal Health, Animal Welfare and Plant Health