Rome: The agri-food promotion policy is heading for a Parliament verdict, because Italian EPP lawmaker Salvatore De Meo has drafted a report that asks the EU to spend more on selling European farm products abroad. The Agriculture Committee scheduled its vote on the report for 5 October 2026, and the indicative plenary date is 19 October 2026.

The report on the agri-food promotion policy, filed as 2025/2089(INI), reviews how the promotion scheme has worked since the 2014 reform under Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014. It builds on a December 2025 evaluation by the European Parliamentary Research Service. The details come from the committee’s vote announcement, which also cites a March draft.

Shadow rapporteurs from the S&D, PfE, ECR, Renew, Greens/EFA and The Left groups shape the text alongside De Meo. Their involvement matters, because an own-initiative report carries no binding force but sets Parliament’s political line. The Commission and national governments usually read such reports as a signal before they design the next round of the agri-food promotion policy.

Money drives the debate. The draft cites a promotion budget of €132 million in 2025, of which about €40 million went to multi programmes. Demand, especially for projects aimed at non-EU countries, regularly exceeded the available funds between 2016 and 2024, so De Meo wants a higher budget for multi programmes and the freedom to move funds between programmes and sectors.

Multi programmes bring together organisations from several member states, so they carry the widest cross-border reach. At about €40 million, they took roughly 30% of the 2025 envelope, and De Meo wants them to grow.

The agri-food promotion policy draft also targets red tape. It asks for simpler procedures for small and medium-sized firms, more flexibility to redirect a programme to other markets and a focus on fewer target markets. It further calls for harmonised impact indicators, common evaluation guidelines and a Commission review of whether the flat rate for administrative costs is adequate.

One proposal affects what farmers see on the shelf. The agri-food promotion policy would let producers use the EU logo next to their national brand on packaging sold in foreign markets. The draft opposes new eligibility criteria and limits on product types, and it warns that the Farm to Fork strategy and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan could shut out products such as red meat and wine.

Readers should treat the details with care. The text that reached the committee vote may differ from the March draft after amendments, which MEPs tabled on 22 April 2026. The committee’s next meetings fall on 4-5 November and on 30 November-1 December 2026.

The report also shows how trade and health policy collide in farm marketing. Producers of wine and meat fear that rules written for cancer prevention could limit EU-funded campaigns for their goods. De Meo’s draft takes the producers’ side, and the plenary will test how much support that line enjoys.

The coming weeks will show whether the agri-food promotion policy gets a larger envelope and looser rules. A strong plenary vote would give De Meo leverage when the Commission prepares its next move. Exporters of wine, cheese, olive oil and meat will follow the result closely.