Andrea Guitierrez Solana, Account Director at Whitehouse Communications is featured in Food Manufacture, providing insightful analysis on EU’s sustainability agenda for the food and drink sector. In her article “European Commission bows to pressure to scrap key sustainability initiatives” Andrea discusses the State of the Union address by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and delves into challenges and opportunities for the industry.
Andrea provided an update on the Commission’s progress on sustainability policy initiatives and upcoming regulations, including the Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition, the revision of the Waste Framework Directive, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Other files, such as the Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS) and the setting of front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL), “have been repeatedly delayed, after strong pressure from the Parliament and some within the industry”, Andrea reports.
Commenting on the State of the Union Andrea explained that the Commission is looking to actively include the industry in discussions around the Clean Transition Dialogue that von der Leyen announced in her speech, “giving food businesses the opportunity to inform sustainability policy”. Andrea emphasised that “this signals an opportunity for food companies to share their expertise and engage more actively in the policy making process” and stressed that “now is the time for food businesses to work closely with decision makers to ensure the food sector plays its part in a much-needed transformation towards a more circular and sustainable economy”.
Find out more about EU’s sustainability policy here and here.
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Read Andrea’s article in Food Manufacture here.
Whitehouse Communications is an issues-led communications agency with vast experience in public affairs and public relations in the mainstream and specialist food sectors. As a specialist political communications agency, Whitehouse has worked on EU and UK nutrition policy for over 20 years to advise major corporations, SMEs, and trade associations on how to engage with evolving legislation and to positively contribute to the transition towards sustainable food systems.
