Towards a European Green Deal-compatible food system

Past event In Person

Climate, Energy & Natural Resources

28Sep2022

starts 12:30

ends 14:15

Add to Google Outlook Yahoo iCalendar

What happened? Schedule Speakers Partners

Get in touch

What happened?

Read the event report

“No one can doubt the considerable consensus that our food system is economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable,” said Faustine Bas-Defossez, Director of External Impact at the Institute for European Environmental Policy, at the start of the event entitled ‘A food chain under pressure: how to ensure long-term resilience’, organised by Friends of Europe on 28 September.

Participants shared the perspective that the transition towards sustainable food systems must continue, despite the pressures of rising energy and food prices. We cannot abandon the long-term goals for quick fixes.

The urgency of the situation is clear. “Crisis is the new norm,” said moderator Dharmendra Kanani, Chief Operating Officer and Spokesperson at Friends of Europe. Dirk Jacobs, Director General of FoodDrinkEurope, highlighted that current national measures negatively impact the internal market. An EU coordinated approach to address the current crisis is urgently needed. “The outlook for our industry is quite bleak, and the worst has yet to come.”

Giacomo Mattino, Head of Unit for Food, Retail and Health at the European Commission Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs (DG GROW), highlighted the importance of “close collaboration” between public and private actors.

Recognising the need to think holistically around the food chain, steps for a just transition must consider the needs of all stakeholders involved, notably SMEs.

Related content:

Schedule

Questions include:

Have food supply chains been resilient in the face of the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic? How can food supply chains be more resilient?
How can we have affordable food in the face of high inflation?
How can we meet sustainability targets while also providing affordable food?
How can public authorities at the EU, national and local level collaborate with the private sector, farmers and consumers to ensure the most feasible path to a sustainable food system?
What will be the impact of EU initiatives on international markets and global supply chains?

with

Faustine Bas-Defossez

Director of External Impact at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)

Dirk Jacobs

Director General of FoodDrinkEurope

Kristin Schreiber

Director for Ecosystems I: Chemicals, Food, Retail at the European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW)

Speakers

Faustine Bas-Defossez is a true European and a passionate advocate. She joined IEEP as Head of the Agriculture and Land Management Programme and was later appointed External Impact Director. She spent eight years leading the largest Federation of Environmental NGOs’ (the European Environmental Bureau – EEB) campaign on the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), advocating for a more sustainable agriculture and farming across Europe. That experience not only provided Faustine with excellent advocacy skills, it also deepened her knowledge of the CAP and farming systems and policies across Europe. Before that, she worked for the European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development on the European Food Aid for the most deprived Program and the public goods delivered by the agriculture sector.

Dirk Jacobs is the Director General of FoodDrinkEurope, the organisation of the European food and drink industry. In this role, he is a member of various EU platforms and regularly engages in global multilateral bodies, such as the UN, WTO, FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius, OECD and FAO. He is also the Chair of a multi-stakeholder task force that led the development of the EU Code of Conduct for Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices, the first deliverable of the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy. Jacobs has long-standing professional experience covering various roles in international and EU public and political affairs, as well as strategic communications. Previously, he served as FoodDrinkEurope’s deputy director general and headed its department for consumer information, nutrition and health.

Prior to her current position at DG GROW, Kristin Schreiber served as director for SME policy in DG GROW and director for governance of the single market and international affairs in DG MARKT. She has held a variety of positions at the European Commission, including as head of cabinet of the employment commissioner, deputy head of cabinet of the internal market commissioner, and member of the cabinets of the enlargement competition commissioners. Schreiber is also a Member of the Management Board of the European Chemical Agency; the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking Governing Board; the Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking Governing Board; and the Global Health Joint Undertaking Governing Board.

Partners