The European Commission unveiled a new blueprint for a sector that despite gobbling up a third of the bloc's budget has long resented Brussels' liberal approach to trade.

Months of protests last year saw farmers irked at regulatory burdens, squeezed revenues and what they see as unfair competition from less-regulated overseas rivals, hurling eggs, spraying manure and blocking the Belgian capital's streets.

The "Vision for Agriculture and Food" is "a strong response to this call for help", the commission's vice-president for reforms Raffaele Fitto told a press conference, referring to the protests.

To ensure that the agricultural sector is not "put at a competitive disadvantage", the commission will pursue "a stronger alignment of production standards applied to imported products," the text reads.

In particular, Brussels will see to it that "the most hazardous pesticides banned in the EU for health and environmental reasons" are not allowed back in "through imported products".

- 'Unfair competition' -

Europe already bans food imports that exceed residue limits for some pesticides EU farmers can't use over food safety concerns.

The new approach seeks to extend restrictions to production standards, EU officials explained.

"Our farmers suffer crop losses because they no longer use these pesticides" but competitors in other countries do not, Christophe Hansen, EU commissioner for agriculture said in an interview, describing the outcome as "unfair competition".

The roadmap does not specify what products or countries could be affected. An impact assessment will inform possible "amendments to the applicable legal framework", it says.

A "dedicated task force" will also be established to strengthen food safety import controls.

The prospect of import restrictions could ruffle feathers abroad against the backdrop of a looming trade conflict.

"Obviously, we can say that it is a barrier to trade. That's how some third countries will interpret it," Hansen said.

The Financial Times reported this week US crops such as soybeans could be targeted, after President Donald Trump unveiled extra duties that could hit European exports.

European farmers have also been uneasy at a trade deal with Latin America's Mercosur bloc the commission announced in December.

But Hansen said the Mercosur agreement was part of a "safety net" of commercial pacts providing outlets for food exports at a time where the United States and China might impose tariffs on prized European products like wine and cheese.

- 'Timid' plans -

The document also vows to reform the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP), cutting red tape and better targeting subsidies towards farmers "who need it most".

This suggests Brussels might move away from the current system, which calculates financial aid based on the size of the farms, favouring large landowners.

But any change would be "gradual", Hansen cautioned.

The European Environment Bureau, an umbrella group of activists, described the final text as "timid" compared to an earlier version that had been circulated.

The EU subsidises farming to make sure enough food is produced at affordable prices, and farmers are rewarded for taking care of nature.

The aid is massive and prized by farming states, most notably France, Ireland and eastern European nations, where farmers have a strong political influence.

Some 387 billion euros ($403 billion) was earmarked for agriculture in the EU's budget for 2021 to 2027.

Negotiations on the next instalment of the CAP for 2028-2034 are set to be one of the most sensitive subjects during EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's second term in office, which began in December.

The blueprint says more money should flow towards young farmers and those who contribute to the environmental preservation or work in areas with "natural constraints" -- but does not detail how that could work in practice.

Pan-European farmers' group Copa-Cogeca welcomed the "vision" as "ambitious".

But environmental groups complained it was light on green commitments, promising instead deregulation as part of a broader drive to revamp Europe's economic competitiveness, which critics say risks undermining the fight against climate change.

The new plans "do little to curtail the environmental, climate and socioeconomic threats facing most farmers," said Greenpeace.