The European Commission will allocate €205 million in 2026 to co-fund promotion activities for sustainable and high-quality EU agri-food products within the European Union and globally.
That is according to the 2026 promotion policy work programme adopted this week, marking the highest allocation ever dedicated to enhancing consumer awareness of European agricultural products and quality schemes.
Up to €160 million will be disbursed in grants to co-fund programmes by producer groups and other agri-food trade bodies: €150 million is split between promotion in non-EU countries and the EU internal market, with allocations of €70.3 million and €79.7 million, respectively; €10 million is reserved for crisis measures.
A key initiative this year is a new campaign promoting European food and the farmers societies as a key part of our society/social fabric to be launched in 2026. The campaign is designed to raise awareness and foster a sense of pride among EU consumers in the high quality of domestically produced EU agri-food products, as part of the European way of life. It also aims to thereby increase consumption of EU agri-food products, highlight the role of farmers and strengthen the bond with consumers. The campaign will run across all 27 EU Member States.
Outside the EU, the programmes will target regions and countries with high growth potential for EU agri-food products. These include the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore and North America.
Finally, the work programme also foresees a number of initiatives to be run directly by the European Commission with up to €10 million. Such activities include high-level missions of Commissioner Hansen with business delegations to third countries, promotion and information campaigns in third countries, EU participation in major international agri-food trade fairs, and the development of market entry handbooks for exporters.
The Vision for Agriculture and Food recognises the EU’s promotion policy as a key tool supporting the global competitiveness of the EU’s agri-food sector, offering opportunities to consolidate, develop and diversify EU export markets. It also affirms that the EU promotion policy will remain a strategic policy tool to be used to enhance consumer awareness about EU agricultural and fishery and aquaculture products and quality schemes.
2026 Annual Work Programme for Promotion Promotion of agricultural products
