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Opinion Number: CDR 6646/2015
Rapporteur: MARTIKAINEN Ossi
Commission: NAT
Status: Adopted
Date: 15/06/2016
 
Setting a specific target at the EU level: reduction objective of at least 30% by 2025 (following up on the CoR resolution of Sustainable food)
Common methodology and measurements at the EU level
CoR membership at the new EU Platform on food waste
The Committee of the Regions was officially invited to participate in the work of the EU Platform for food losses and food waste. At its meeting on 27 September 2016, the Commission for Natural Resources appointed Mr Ossi Martikainen, the rapporteur on Food waste, as the CoR representative of the Platform.

On 29 November 2016, the European Commissioner on Health and Food Safety, Mr Andriukaitis launched the European Platform on food losses and food waste, as planned within the EU Action Plan to promote Circular Economy. The Platform is composed of 70 members representing public and private sectors: competent authorities from Member States; EU umbrella organisations and federations involved in food waste prevention in the food supply chain; relevant NGOs; EU bodies and relevant international organisations. Its main mission is to "support the Commission, Member States and all actors in the food value chain in achieving the SDG 12.3 food loss and waste reduction targets without compromising food safety, feed safety and/or animal health". At the first meeting of the Platform, the CoR rapporteur presented the CoR opinion on Food waste, adopted in June 2016.

The European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on Initiative on resource efficiency: reducing food waste, improving food safety during its Plenary session on 15 May 2017.

In the EP report, many paragraphs include ideas and wording orginating from the amendments channeled through the CoR. More in particular, it contains few paragraphs on the key role to play of local and regional authorities in reducing food waste.

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



- reminds the European Commission of its past call for more specific objectives to be set for reducing food waste by 30% by 2025 and urges the Commission to develop uniform methodologies for data collection in order to review the food waste reduction targets;

- recommends that the European Commission set up a European platform bringing together different levels of government and relevant stakeholders for the purpose of preventing and reducing food waste and improving the ways in which food waste is managed; expresses its interest in being involved in activities relating to benchmarking of practical measures and promoting best practice;

- calls on the European Commission to promote and encourage the creation of conventions between the retail food sector and charity associations in EU Member States;

- invites local and regional authorities, regarding foodstuffs withdrawn or removed from the primary distribution, to establish effective secondary distribution chains (like the model of social grocery stores) and guaranteeing access for disadvantaged people to still usable food; recommends that financial support be granted for charities and food banks to increase their operating capacity;

- recommends that as far as possible local and regional products and seasonal products be used as raw materials for catering services (including public catering services, tourist facilities and guest houses, restaurants and other establishments carrying out similar activities) and advocates lobbying on behalf of locally produced food to shorten the production and consumption chain, which reduces the number of processing stages and thus also the waste generated during the various phases.

Importance

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The EU Platform on Food losses and food waste to meet on the 14 June 2017

The EU Platform on Food losses and food waste to meet on the 14 June 2017. The rapporteur, Mr Ossi Martikainen is an official member of the Platform.

 
14 Jun
 

EP adopts the report on Initiative on resource efficiency

The European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on Initiative on resource efficiency: reducing food waste, improving food safety during its Plenary session on 15 May 2017.

In the EP report, many paragraphs include ideas and wording orginating from the amendments channeled through the CoR. More in particular, paragraphs on the key role to play of local and regional authorities in reducing food waste.

 
15 May
 

EP adopts a report on Waste directive

European Parliament adopted legislative reports on the Circular Economy package.

Within the report on Waste directive, MEPs advocate an EU food waste reduction target of 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, compared to 2014.

The four reports adopted on 14 March 2017 represent Parliament’s negotiating position, ahead of negotiations with Council of ministers, which yet has to adopt its own position.

 
14 Mar
 

Conference on Food waste

The NAT Vice-Chair Mr Buchanan presented the CoR opinion on Food waste during this conference organised by the EP rapporteur, Ms Biljana Borzan.

 
30 Nov
 

European Platform on food losses and waste

The European Commission announced the launching of the European Platform on food waste and losses, established as planned within the EU Action Plan to promote Circular Economy. The Committee of the Regions has been invited to participate in the work of the Platform. At its meeting on 27 September 2016, the Commission for Natural Resources appointed Mr Ossi Martikainen, the rapporteur on Food waste, as the CoR representative of the Platform. The first meeting will take place on 29 November 2016 at the premises of the CoR.

 
28 Nov
 

Policy debate on "Preventing food losses and food waste: towards the achievement of SDG 12.3"

The purpose of the debate is to better understand the EU policy framework for action, to learn more about existing regional/local authorities' and civil society's initiatives and discuss PSG recommendations for future action on this topic.

Mr Martikainen will intervene alongside Ms Anne-Laure Gassin from European Commission, DG SANTE; Mr Olivier Neufkens, Founder of the Belgian Project "Foodwe - Food Waste Evasion"; Mr Joris Depouillon, Feedback Global (tbc)and Ms Anne-Catherine Van Ranst, EMAS team (EESC, CoR).

The Policy debate is organised by the Permanent study group on sustainable food systems of the European Economic and Social Committee.

 
21 Nov
 

Adoption of the draft Opinion in the CoR Plenary Session

The opinion was adopted in the Plenary by the majority of votes. Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis attended the debate, underlining the essential role that play regions and cities in combatting food waste: "They can implement concrete actions on the ground to fight food waste, working directly with citizens as well as a wide range of actors including schools, community markets, restaurants, food businesses and food banks or charitable organisations." The Committee of the Regions was also invited to join the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste which will start operating in autumn 2016.

 
15 Jun
 

Round table discussion

Round table on Food waste with the participation of the Commissioner for Health and Food Security, Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis, Mr Van Otterdijk from FAO,Pilar Chiva Rodriguez from the Catalan Waste Agency and Mr Toine Timmermans from FUSIONS (project funded under the EC Framework Programme 7).

 
01 Mar
 

Policy debate

Policy debate on food waste with Commissioner Andriukaitis

 
01 Mar
 

Rapporteur's activity

Meeting with officials from DG SANTE

 
22 Jan
 

Rapporteur's activity

Meeting with Mr Peter Schmidt, President of the Permanent Study group on Food security (European Economic and Social Committee)

 
22 Jan
 

Rapporteur's activity

Meeting with Ms Veras, Secretary general of Municipal Waste.

 
22 Jan
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