Food Policy

• Health and nutrition
• Animal welfare
• Local production
• Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
• New technologies

Consumer co-operatives believe that food policy must be based on the principles of safety, quality, affordability, safety, sustainability and information to consumers. Against this background, Euro Coop follows a wide range of subjects, playing a key role in many food-related debates. We currently focus on five work areas: health and nutrition, animal welfare, local production, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and new technologies.

Euro Coop’s Food Retail Working Group meets annually to discuss issues of interest and exchange ideas on the subject.

Health and nutrition

As a founding member of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, Euro Coop works to help consumers make informed choices about their food purchases and fight against the obesity epidemic in Europe. Consumer co-operatives have long promoted healthy lifestyles through raising awareness and educating consumers.

We believe that:

• Information on the caloric, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt content of food products should be mandatory on the front of packaging. See our press release regarding the decision of the European Parliament’s ENVI committee to reject amendments requiring this information.
• Product reformulation is an essential tool to improve consumers’ diets.
• Health claims should be reflected in nutrition information and based on scientific evidence.
• The European institutions should set nutrient profiles.

For more details about food labelling, read our position on the European Parliament’s draft report regarding the Commission proposal for a regulation on the provision of food information to consumers.

For more information about how consumer co-operatives combat obesity, please refer to:

Animal welfare

Euro Coop collaborates with other nonprofits to lobby for the protection of animals and their habitats. Because consumer co-operatives are pioneers in providing the highest standards of living to farming animals, we advocate sustainable means to raise animals for human consumption through our work on reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. We are also engaged in promoting our members’ best practices in different fora and workshops organised by the European authorities, in the hopes of stimulating change and improving animal welfare to a greater degree.

Local production

Euro Coop promotes locally and sustainably produced food products that are safe, affordable and healthy for consumers. We believe that the European institutions should endorse these products not only because of their quality, but also because of their economic and social benefits to small communities.

Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

The European authorities are currently working on reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that would go into effect in 2014.

Because the CAP is the most financially and legislatively important system in the EU, the reform process represents an opportunity to create a fairer, greener and more consumer-focused programme.

Consumers expect a CAP that:

• Ensures food security, food quality and food safety;
• Takes into account sustainability;
• Promotes affordable and economically efficient agricultural products, and;
• Preserves vital rural areas while enhancing regional cohesion.

We believe that the integration of these demands into the future CAP would foster greater development in Europe and create more socio-economic benefits to be shared by all.

For more information, please see our position on the CAP reform.

New technologies

We are in favour of the development of new technologies, provided that they respond to consumers’ needs and expectations and respect the precautionary principle.

More specifically, we believe that:

• Cloning animals for food purposes is unnecessary and unacceptable. See our letter responding to the draft European Commission report on cloning animals for food.
• Products containing nanoparticles require further scientific analysis before being put on the market. See our position paper on nanotechnologies.
• “Novel foods” and new technologies in food and feed need careful consideration.

For more information, please contact:

+32 2 285 00 74
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