Latvia took on the presidency of the EU Council from January 1 this year for a six-month period, and the trade body, which represents the interests of food and drink makers in the EU, has traditionally set out its priorities ahead of each presidency change.
“Europe’s food and drink manufacturers fully support the objective of a competitive Europe, one of the Latvian Presidency’s key priorities,” said FoodDrinkEurope in a statement. “Work should focus on a framework that can support competitiveness and boost innovation, while helping to create jobs and growth.”
The industry trade body has said it strongly supports the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) for its potential to increase jobs and investment in the European food industry – and has asked for TTIP to create an SME-friendly trade framework and give Europe’s SMEs the opportunity to offer their products to American consumers at more competitive prices.
FoodDrinkEurope has asked the Latvian presidency to make progress on the following areas:
- Industrial policy, including renewing the mandate for the High Level Forum for a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain, development of an industrial policy for the food and drink sector, and helping the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
- Trade, including better export opportunities for food and drink companies and access to emerging markets, and progress on trade agreements including TTIP and the EU-Japan agreement.
- Biofuels, including limiting the use of food crops in biofuel production and encouraging alternatives
- Public health, including support for voluntary initiatives
- Origin labelling, taking into account feasibility of mandatory origin labelling
- Finalising Novel Food regulation
- Official food & feed controls