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This EPRS paper analyses how the European Commission is delivering on the policy agenda set by its President, Ursula von der Leyen, and her College of Commissioners since taking office in December 2024. It provides an initial assessment of the delivery of the agenda's seven priorities as of spring 2026. The von der Leyen II Commission has set seven priorities – different from the six priorities of her first mandate. It has so far announced close to 400 initiatives. Half of these initiatives fall ...

Food contact materials (FCMs) include all materials that come into physical contact with food during its production, processing, packaging and storage. They contain thousands of chemicals, some of which can migrate into food, especially at high temperatures, during long contact times or with certain food types. Scientific evidence shows that such migration is common and may contribute to human exposure to hazardous substances, including endocrine disruptors, carcinogens and reproductive toxicants ...

EU food safety policy aims to protect human health and consumer interests and foster the smooth operation of the single market. Over time, developments have broadened food safety objectives to include the mitigation of crisis-induced food insecurity. The EU ensures that standards are adhered to in the areas of feed and food-product hygiene, animal health, plant health, food-borne zoonotic diseases and the prevention of food contamination. The EU also regulates labelling for food and feed products ...

Energy drinks, widely marketed as performance-enhancing products, contain high levels of caffeine, sugar and stimulants such as taurine and guarana. Rising and excessive consumption among adolescents has raised public health concerns linked to acute cardiovascular effects, sleep disruption and gastrointestinal issues. Although the global energy drink market is expanding rapidly, these beverages still represent a small share of the EU non-alcoholic drinks market. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA ...

Every year, we generate 60 million tonnes of food waste and 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste in the EU. On 5 July 2023, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a targeted revision of EU waste rules, aiming to reduce textile and food waste. The updated legislation entered into force on 16 October 2025. It will introduce binding food waste reduction targets, to be met at national level by 31 December 2030: 10 % from food processing and manufacturing and 30 % per capita from retail, restaurants ...

In the European Union (EU), nearly 60 million tonnes of food – representing 132 kilogrammes per person – were wasted in 2022, of which over half (54 %) in households. The environmental impact of this amount of food waste accounts for 254 million tonnes of CO2 and 342 billion cubic meters of water, used in the production process.

On 25 June 2025, the Commission published a proposal for a regulation on the safety, resilience and sustainability of space activities in the European Union (EU) ('the EU space act'). A majority of Member States have already adopted or are considering adopting legislation on space activities. The regulation's relevance was highlighted by Mario Draghi's report on the future of European competitiveness, which explained the role of space systems and services in supporting the EU's sovereignty and economy ...

Every year, 60 million tonnes of food waste and 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste are generated in the EU. During its September plenary session, Parliament is due to vote on the updated Waste Framework Directive.

This EPRS paper analyses how the European Commission is delivering on the policy agenda set by its President, Ursula von der Leyen, and her College of Commissioners, since taking office in December 2024. It provides a first assessment of the delivery of the agenda's seven priorities, on the eve of the first State of the Union address of von der Leyen's second mandate as Commission President. The von der Leyen II Commission has set seven new priorities – none of which continues directly from the six ...

In a geopolitical context which temporarily affects food security, climate change remains the most common driver of food insecurity. It will continue to disrupt the entire food supply chain in the long term – from production (upstream) to storage, processing and distribution (downstream). On the supply side, rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events harm key crops like wheat and grain maize, and challenge livestock and seafood. Southern Europe is particularly vulnerable, raising ...