MEPs push to dedicate 2024 as European Year of Food Sustainability

A group of MEPs advises the EU executive to proclaim 2024 as a European year of ‘sustainable and resilient food systems’ in a letter seen by EURACTIV.

The signatories of the letter acknowledged the European Commission’s recent commitment to focus on the food sector’s capability to cope with both the climate emergency and the recent shocks caused by COVID-19 and Ukraine’s invasion.

“To further mark the EU commitment in this area, we propose to proclaim 2024 as the European Year devoted to ‘Sustainable and resilient food systems’,” the letter, addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as well several other members of her cabinet, reads.

European years are annual awareness campaigns organised at the EU level around a topic proposed by the Commission. They have been running for nearly 40 years, with the current European year dedicated to skills.

The letter was signed by 37 lawmakers who are also members of the European Food Forum (EFF) – a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together both policymakers and other food supply chain actors – together with other 6 MEPs outside the platform.

Other co-signatories include non-individual members of the European Food Forum, such as public institutions and civil society representatives, as well as EU lobbies and private companies.

The letter points out that more than 70% of Europeans live in cities where over 70% of food is consumed, hence the importance of “supporting resilient urban-rural food system through inclusive, multi-level governance and integrated food policies.”

“Access to quality food good for both health and the environment should not be a privilege for a few that live in urban cities. It’s a fundamental right of every European,” commented Irène Tolleret, French liberal MEP and first signatory of the call in her capacity as EFF president.

Sharing her views with EURACTIV, she said that a European year could devote attention to concrete actions regarding major issues such as food waste and food security.

“We really need [to discuss] this topic of resilient food systems in an electoral year as it is the best way to depoliticise food,” she said.

“For instance, climate change is not a political issue. It’s a fact,” she added, warning about the risks of nationalist responses to big agri-food-related questions instead of proposing European solutions.

There are officially no formal candidacies in the selection process of a European year campaign by the EU executive.

Contacted by EURACTIV, a Commission spokesperson said that when proposing a European Year, they take into account the challenges and issues at stake in the political and democratic life of the Union at that point in time.

“As always, the Commission is very attentive to all kinds of input coming from other institutions and stakeholders,” the spokesperson continued.

In February, MEPs already unanimously voted for a resolution which included the proposal of the designation of 2024 as the European Year of Cycling among its 17-point actions to develop more cycling infrastructure across Europe.

The decision is taken by the College of Commissioners “in line with the collegial nature of the decision-making process within the Commission,” the spokesperson added.

Last year, the proposal of a European year of skills was presented by Ursula von der Leyen in September, during the Commission president’s annual address known as State of the Union.

Once a theme for the European Year is proposed, interinstitutional negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council will follow to agree politically on the matter.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

Read more with Euractiv

A diverse gut microbiome needs uniform market, stakeholders warn

The EU probiotics industry is currently hindered by a ‘fragmented’ internal market that confuses customers and distorts the playing field for businesses, according to stakeholders, who call for regulatory harmonisation.