As this report shows, it's a home-made problem. Up to now, the EU has protected its cattle farmers with a system of quotas, standards and restrictions. This system has not necessarily been to the benefit of the consumer. Obsolete standards mean that healthy, low-fat and low cholesterol cattle never come to market. Consumers information is poor.
Clarity is lost inside a thicket of bureocracy and regulation.
A modern, consumer-friendly beef industry has been rendered impossible.