E+E Leader Team
The European Commission has officially registered a citizens’ initiative titled “Food is a Human Right for All!” Guaranteeing healthy, just and sustainable food systems,” allowing organizers to launch collecting signatures across EU Member States.
The initiative seeks to embed the right to food within EU law and calls for sweeping reforms across 14 domains—from land utilize and seed rights to GMO regulation and food waste reduction.
“This initiative sfinishs a clear message that citizens want food systems that are equitable, sustainable, and centered on public wellbeing,” declared Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, in the July 2025 implementing decision.
14 Objectives for Overhauling EU Food Policy
The amfinished initiative includes detailed calls for legislation or amfinishments in key areas, including:
- Fair food systems and democratic governance
- Support for peasant agroecology and territorial food systems
- Recognition that food is not an ordinary commodity
- Strict GMO regulation, including new genomic techniques
- Animal welfare and ultra-processed food regulation
- Sustainable water management and food procurement
- Enhanced food labeling and waste reduction
The initiative also urges the EU to strengthen food-related human rights in third world countries, reflecting a broader ethical and geopolitical lens.
Commission Sees Legal Basis for Action
The Commission noted that each of the 14 objectives falls within its power to propose legal acts under existing EU treaties, including the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Legal bases span Articles 38–44 (agriculture), 114 (internal market), 168 (public health), 191–192 (environment), and others.
Importantly, the registration does not mean the Commission finishorses the initiative’s factual claims. It simply affirms that the proposals are legally actionable.
What Happens Next?
Organizers—led by Olga Kikou and Almudena García Sastre—must now collect 1 million verified signatures across at least seven EU countries within 12 months. If successful, the Commission must decide whether to act on the initiative or explain its reasoning for declining.
This marks a growing trfinish of grassroots mobilization around food justice and sustainability, paralleling recent EU Green Deal actions and Farm to Fork strategy debates.
