The European agri-food sector is at a crossroads: faced with climate change, economic pressures, geopolitical tensions, regulatory demands and rapid technological change, it must accelerate its digital transformation to remain sustainable, resilient and globally competitive. Yet fragmented identifiers, incompatible standards and siloed national approaches prevent EU-wide deployment and limit the availability of high-quality data for AI and innovation. To address this, 10 Member States are launching the Agri-Food Data Infrastructure and Services (AFDIS), a Multi-Country Project to deliver shared digital infrastructure and interoperable services for Europe’s agri-food systems. They have initiated the creation of the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) for Agri-Food to coordinate strategic deployment and ensure long-term sustainability. As the EDIC is not yet formally established, this proposal is submitted by a consortium of 10 partners, 9 of them officially appointed by their governments. Together, they will establish a unified, secure and interoperable digital backbone, starting with a common Farm eID interconnecting national systems. It will simplify farm identification for natural and legal persons, enable seamless data sharing, align with EU identity frameworks (EUDI Wallet, eIDAS 2.0), and reduce administrative burdens. It will unlock the potential of AI by enabling trusted, cross-border data flows that support innovation, competitiveness and efficiency. The Farm eID will be scaled up and expanded through strategic deployment actions: a portfolio of scalable, multi-country use cases implemented by the consortium and third parties via FSTP. These actions will deliver systemic benefits, from automation to data-driven decision-making, across EU agri-food chains. By embedding its results into the EDIC, AFDIS will secure long-term EU-level ownership, governance and impact, positioning Europe as a global leader in trusted, AI-driven agri-food innovation.
