Dijon: EU agriculture ministers have agreed a partial negotiating position on farm market reform, opening the way for talks with Parliament on new rules for the common organisation of agricultural markets. The Council announced the position on 19 October 2026, as negotiations on the 2028 to 2034 long-term budget continue in parallel.
The position is partial because money and other cross-cutting questions sit in the wider budget talks. Ireland’s agriculture minister, Martin Heydon, said the Council wants to support the agrifood sector, strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain and keep high-quality food accessible. The Council presidency can now begin negotiations with Parliament, though the report names no date for the first meeting.
The farm market reform covers sector-specific market measures, the EU school scheme, marketing standards and crisis preparedness. Under the proposed budget, a new national and regional partnership fund would pool existing EU funds, including support under the common agricultural policy. Each member state would then draw up a single plan in place of separate programmes.
Several sectors face firmer duties. Sectoral interventions would become mandatory for beekeeping and for fruit and vegetables, and in some circumstances for wine, with flexible derogations for countries where the wine sector is undeveloped. A new protein crops and oilseed sector would replace the current dried fodder sector, and the text encourages member states to recognise producer organisations in it. Farmers in these sectors would see the farm market reform change their daily planning.
Consumers would notice other changes. The school scheme for fruit, vegetables and milk would continue but move from a school-year basis to a calendar year, with transitional measures. The Council also opens the door to marketing standards for protein crops, beef, pigmeat, sheepmeat, goatmeat and rice, so that shoppers can learn where products come from. Retailers would need to adapt their labels if the farm market reform keeps this idea.
The Council text leaves many practical questions to later stages. Producer organisations, national agencies and traders will need guidance on how the new mandatory interventions fit with the single plan that each country must prepare, and the report gives no timetable for that guidance.
Hemp receives separate treatment. Ministers want harmonised EU rules on production and marketing that cover all parts of the plant, keep the 0.3 percent THC threshold and require strict seed certification. Safeguards ensure that the rules do not interfere with national law on public security, drugs or health.
The hardest part lies ahead. Final funding for these measures depends on the budget deal for 2028 to 2034, which is still under negotiation, and the report names no euro amounts. Farmers and food companies will watch whether the farm market reform survives talks with Parliament intact, because the mandatory plans and new marketing standards would change how producers organise and label their goods.
