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European regulations may increase food prices, warns the Food Chamber

by AI | 10.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Food producers fear an increase in food prices due to increasing European regulations aimed at mitigating climate change. According to them, the new measures will increase administration and production costs.

Shopping cart with groceries and everyday essentials. Photo: Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

Prague – Food producers are concerned about the increase in food prices due to increasing European regulations aimed at mitigating climate change. According to them, the new measures will increase both the administration and costs of food production. This was stated by the Food Chamber in a press release. The Chamber also criticizes the lack of transparency with which the European Commission has developed potential impacts on businesses and households. Companies will now have to comply with the CSRD directive, which requires them to provide information on their carbon footprint, and there will also be a new directive on corporate due diligence in sustainability, intended to lead to greater responsibility, the promotion of human rights, and environmental protection.

“Europe already has more expensive food than the rest of the world. And because of ridiculous measures, we will have to make it even more expensive. Concerns about the impact of the green transformation are justified. We should apply common sense in climate policy,” stated President of the Food Chamber Dana Večeřová.

The Chamber is convinced that the proposed measures will have almost no positive impacts. The production of greenhouse gases associated with food production, according to them, will just shift to countries outside the EU, and the impact on the climate will be worse. Food producers are also bothered by the lack of clear requirements for some regulations or the mandatory reduction of food waste in the coming years, even though they claim that waste hardly arises in the food industry.

Food producers also consider the planned regulation on packaging and packaging waste problematic, as it requires companies to use only reusable packaging in trade. “This will be problematic both in terms of technical implementation, including ensuring food safety, and from the perspective of the carbon footprint, as it affects, among other things, pallets with stretch films,” the Chamber pointed out, which is therefore trying to push for changes to the rules. (October 10)