The EU’s new platform for food policy making

In February, a group of 400 EU stakeholders in the agricultural industry called for the creation of a new body for introducing sustainable food systems, or a “Common Food Policy” in Europe.

The stakeholders said that, at the moment, the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) aren’t working and new platform needs to be introduced. They also said that the current policies focus more on production, so the food aspect isn’t looked at in enough detail.

Many EU lawmakers echo this complaint. The lack of a common food policy is an ongoing concern, and experts have called for new debates on the matter.

Because of this, lawmakers from various political groups and committees are set to launch a new platform that it hopes will address the EU’s food policies going forward.

The platform – the European Food Forum (EFF) – will be led by Belgian socialist MEP Marc Tarabella and is due to be launched later in the year. It will take inspiration from  the European Internet Forum (EIF) and the European Energy Forum (EEF) in terms of structure.

Under Belgian law, the EFF will be run as a non-profit association, and will have a general assembly, board of directors, as well as several committees.

It’s main focus will be on looking at current and emerging trends in the food supply chain, both at a global level, and within the European Union. The group will then create food policies by listening to MP’s and stakeholders concerns, and by building relations with public and private institutions.

Although MEP’s will have overall control of the platform, it will remain open to operators in the food supply chain, which includes farmers, processors, retailers, and major associations and service companies in Europe, and also to research institutions, universities, and NGO’s.

It’s hoped that the EEF will become a “safe place” to talk about food policies, agricultural policies and other topics with stakeholders and policymakers. It also aims to propose new, innovative solutions and ideas to some of the major issues being faced by the food industry.