FoodServiceEurope believes that fostering fair contractual relations amongst all actors in the supply chain is essential to provide high-quality, safe, and affordable food to consumers. Therefore, the contract catering sector welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the evaluation of Directive 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain.

The current Directive does not sufficiently consider the specificities of the contract catering sector and its unique position in the food supply chain. This is because the scope of the Directive only applies to the sale and purchase of food products but not the provision of food services in business-to-business relations. As a result, our sector needs to comply with the requirements and obligations as buyers of food products but does not have equivalent protection in their dealings as suppliers.

We therefore believe that it is essential to revise the Directive as soon as possible to extend its scope to cover the provision of food services.

FoodServiceEurope welcomes the opportunity to provide our position on the revision the existing Directive on late payments. Late payments, in particular by national and local public authorities, continue to be a very serious problem for our industry. While the situation diverges substantially across Member States, in national markets payment terms from public authorities can reach up to 200 days, creating serious burdens in terms of cash flow for catering companies.

Read our recommendations in our position paper below. 

FoodServiceEurope supports a general EU framework that protects consumers and companies from misleading green claims, improves legal certainty and levels the playing field within the Single Market. It is however essential that the new framework does not disincentivize companies from communicating on their environmental efforts since the ability to communicate to consumers is a strong driver of environmental improvements. Therefore, such a framework must be proportionate, and balanced. It should be easy for companies to apply and inform consumers about their choices.

Read our suggestions in the document below.

Ahead of the plenary vote on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), FoodServiceEurope and the signatories to this letter would like to share some of their concerns regarding the approach adopted by the Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) on 24 October.

While we recognize the good progress made on the text in a number of areas which will help the industry to achieve its circular ambitions, we are highly concerned with the amendments to Art. 26 of the draft PPWR which have been adopted by the ENVI Committee and in particular:

1. The possibility provided to Member States to go beyond the proposed increased reuse targets without any justification needed.

2. The absence in the proposal of a mechanism which would allow for single-use recyclable packaging as an alternative to packaging for reuse if a better overall environmental outcome on the basis of a waste management or life cycle assessment can be achieved.

Leading EU agri-food chain organisations unite in a call for more involvement around the shaping of the future legislative Framework for Sustainable Food Systems.

Today, 31 organisations representing all the leading organisations of the food chain in the EU sent a joint letter to the European Commission asking to be more involved in the building process of the Farm to Fork flagship initiative: the legislative Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS).

FoodServiceEurope supports the EU Green Deal’s objective to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and to establish a circular economy in the EU. We believe that proposal for a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is a step in the right direction, but improvements are needed. Additionally, we would like to bring to the attention of the legislators the specificities of the contract catering sector to be considered in the development of the PPWR.

Position adopted during the General Assembly that took place in Brussels on 28 Novelber 2019.

FoodServiceEurope believes that fostering fair contractual relations amongst all actors in the supply chain is essential to provide high-quality, safe, and affordable food to consumers. Therefore, the contract catering sector supports balanced initiatives to strengthen the position of farmers and SMEs in the food supply chain. However, any initiative at EU level has to be justified and proportionate in order to achieve this stated objective.

The Commission’s proposal for a Directive to address unfair trading practices in the food supply chain does not sufficiently consider the specificities of the contract catering sector and its unique position in the food supply chain. 

The European contract catering sector is doing its part to support clients who choose sustainable procurement.

FoodServiceEurope asks both the European Parliament and the Council to rethink their approach in the course of the Trilogue Negotiations to ensure public procurement will effectively guarantee quality and value of services provided.

FoodServiceEurope believes that reduced rates are of utmost importance for securing jobs and growth and would not create an obstacle to the proper functioning of the internal market. Reduced rates are also desirable as they fulfil the public policy objective of increasing food access to lower-income earners.

FoodServiceEurope urges the European Parliament and Member States to amend the proposal in order to avoid the extension of all mandatory information requirements listed to non-pre-packed food served in catering units and to keep the current regime unchanged.