The European Union is moving forward with regulatory changes aimed at reducing administrative burdens for livestock producers, feed operations and crop producers while maintaining existing food and feed safety standards.
The European Council adopted its negotiating position on portions of the Omnibus X legislative package, which would simplify rules covering pesticide use, livestock record-keeping and plastics used in food-contact materials.
EU officials said the initiative is intended to reduce administrative burdens while maintaining existing standards for food and feed safety, animal welfare and environmental protection.
For the animal agriculture and feed sectors, one of the most significant changes involves record-keeping requirements tied to livestock health management. Current EU rules require farmers to maintain records of medicinal treatments administered to animals and mortality data. However, similar reporting obligations already exist under the EU’s veterinary medicinal products regulation and the Animal Health Law.
Under the Council’s proposed amendments, those duplicate requirements would be removed, reducing paperwork and compliance demands for livestock producers and integrated feed and animal production operations.
The package also includes revisions to the EU directive governing the sustainable use of pesticides. While the changes primarily address crop protection practices, they could influence feed grain production by allowing broader use of drones for targeted pesticide applications.
Current EU rules prohibit aerial pesticide applications except in limited cases. The proposed amendments would expand allowances for certain drone applications, provided risk assessments and operational conditions are met.
The Council’s mandate would preserve existing exemptions for aerial spraying in special cases while adding a separate exemption for approved drone technologies, even when special-case conditions are not present.
The proposal also calls for the European Food Safety Authority to develop guidance covering both pesticide risk assessments and operational standards for agricultural drones used in pesticide applications.
Additional measures would establish a 30-month timeline for adoption of delegated rules identifying approved drone types and operating conditions. Transitional provisions would allow member states to authorize drone use before final EU rules are adopted if existing aerial spraying conditions are met and risk assessments are submitted to EU authorities.
The Council also proposed repealing two older directives governing plastic materials intended for food contact, arguing that the provisions are already covered under a 2011 EU regulation. Officials said the move would improve legal clarity and reduce overlapping legislation.
The omnibus X package is one of several EU simplification initiatives introduced since early 2025. EU leaders have tied the effort to broader competitiveness concerns identified in recent policy reports focused on strengthening Europe’s economic position and streamlining regulation across member states.
Negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament are expected to continue as work proceeds on the remaining portions of the omnibus X package.
Source: Council of the EU, "Council agrees position to simplify and strengthen food and feed safety requirements"