On 16 December 2025, European Commissioners Dombrovskis and Várhelyi presented a package that the Commission itself describes as a “simplification” of EU rules on food and feed. The Commission estimates that this will result in administrative savings of €939 million per year.
However, this is a Commission proposal; it is not yet law. It still has to be approved by Parliament and the Council.
The Commission has tabled an “omnibus” proposal that makes targeted amendments to a range of existing EU rules. This is not a single new regulation that replaces everything, but rather a series of amendments to existing regulations.
The underlying documents explicitly mention changes to, amongst other things:
Regulations on hygiene (852/2004 and 853/2004), official controls (2017/625), animal welfare at the time of slaughter (1099/2009) and TSE/BSE (999/2001).
Here are three areas that you, as a slaughterhouse, cutting plant or meat processor, need to pay close attention to.
The text of the proposal states that the notification procedure set out in Regulations (EC) No 852/2004 and (EC) No 853/2004 is to be replaced by the general notification procedure under Directive (EU) 2015/1535, as this would be “simpler and more efficient”.
This is primarily a procedural matter for the government and the legislature, but it can influence how quickly national implementations, exceptions or working methods are processed.
The Commission wishes to abolish the separate annual depopulation reporting requirement set out in 1099/2009, as, according to the explanatory memorandum, it overlaps with the reporting requirements under 2017/625 and is of “limited value” given the administrative burden involved.
This does not alter your obligation to ensure animal welfare, but it may change the way in which Member States report and the way in which the Commission receives information.
Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 refers to “targeted amendments” which give the Commission greater scope to make rapid adjustments, via delegated acts, to, amongst other things, rapid tests, surveillance requirements, subpopulations/age categories and the list of Specified Risk Material (SRM), with reference to scientific evidence and international standards (WOAH).
The same passage also states that restrictions on gelatine and collagen derived from ruminant bones are being lifted, in line with WOAH standards and an “Authority opinion” referred to in the explanatory notes.
If you work in the beef supply chain or process ruminant by-products, this is the section that may be referred to later in specifications and export discussions.
The Commission explicitly states that the package focuses on procedural and administrative aspects and that it does not intend to alter “the underlying risk assessment principles” or the level of protection.
In other words: HACCP isn’t going away, regulations aren’t going away, and the core principles of hygiene and official controls remain in place. This is mainly about making things faster, more digital and less duplicative.
For industry and SMEs, if this goes ahead, it could mean that some processes become less cumbersome and that certain projects can keep pace with scientific developments more quickly.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_25_3099
