About: EU food and consumers policy Archives

Recent accusations by consumer groups that multinational firms are marketing lower quality products in Eastern Europe are baseless, the European Commission has said, stating that companies were free to adapt their products to different markets.

MEPs yesterday (19 April) backed the mandatory inclusion of information on country-of-origin and transfats on food labels, amid indications of a looming battle with member states and warnings that the new requirements will cripple small businesses.

The United States and European Union have reached a compromise over the use of prestigious geographical food names like Champagne and Parma, clearing one of the last obstacles to an international pact to battle the growing trade in counterfeit goods.

"Local food is delicious," but the problems with the food system and its environmental impact - and the solutions to address them - are global, writes Sarah DeWeerdt in an April paper for the Worldwatch Institute.

Ireland will destroy an estimated 100,000 pigs as the country finds itself embroiled in what is seen as the EU's biggest contaminated food scare since BSE, commonly known as the mad cow disease, brought about the destruction of over four million cattle in the UK five years ago.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how European farmers can improve the quality of their food and drink to achieve the added value needed to compete with much lower production costs in emerging countries.

Soaring global food prices dominated a ministerial debate yesterday (19 May) on how Europe's €45 billion farm subsidy scheme should be reformed. The Commission is due to unveil concrete plans for the Common Agricultural Policy 'Health Check' later today.

With EU citizens using more than twice the resources available within European boundaries, there is a risk of 'serious hardship' from ecological overshoot, Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network told EURACTIV in an interview.

European nations, which use more than twice the amount of resources available on their territories, need to factor ecological assets into their national accounting systems in order to prevent ecological bankruptcy, says Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network. He spoke with EURACTIV in an interview.

UK veterinary authorities informed the European Commission on 22 September 2007 of the presence of the bluetongue viral infection in cattle near Ipswich, Suffolk, in another blow for farmers beset by the reinstatement of the EU's ban on British meat exports, following the re-emergence of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.  

International CEOs will meet Presidents Bush and Prodi to discuss a barrier-free transatlantic market at the EU-US summit. Consumers' unions are boycotting the summit after being declined direct assess to top leaders.

Juan Riviere y Marti was appointed to the newly created position of Consumer Liaison Officer on 9 December.

The Commission is inviting proposals for graphics to be used as illustrations of health warnings on cigarette packages. The use of picture warnings will not be made mandatory.

On 18 June 2003, the European Commission adopted a proposal for legislation on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices within the European Union.

The European Community was among the first signatories of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 16 June 2003.

The global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was endorsed by the 192 members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 21 May, concluding three years of negotiations.

EU Health Ministers were unable to reach an
agreement on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
during the extraordinary Council meeting on 6 May, due to
German objections. The FCTC is to be signed later in May at the
World Health Assembly.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,
agreed in the WHO on 1 March 2003, will govern tobacco
advertising, sponsorship, taxation, smoking prevention and
treatment, as well as illicit trade.

Health officials from around the world are
gathering in Geneva between 17-28 February to wrap up
discussions on a WHO treaty on tobacco control.

The Commission is pursuing infringement procedures against eight Member States for their failure to implement the Guarantees Directive that sets out minimum legal rights for consumers buying goods in the EU.

WHO negotiators are gathering in Geneva to develop global rules to control the advertising, promotion and sales as well as smuggling of tobacco products.

The European Parliament's Legal Affairs
Committee has called for substantial changes to the
Commission's proposal for a new Directive to ban tobacco
advertising and sponsoring.

Consumer credit legislation in Central and Eastern Europe Following the political changes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Central and East European countries (CEECs) experienced the birth of a new economic environment. A new banking system has been set up and new market …

On 11 September, the Commission adopted a proposal for a new directive on consumer credit. If agreed by the Parliament and the Member States, the directive should increase the protection of consumers and lenders across borders and lead to a better functioning EU-wide consumer credit market.