Competitiveness of the European Food Industry
In the European Union, the food and drink industry is a significant economic sector whose competitive position has recently been questioned. The sector flourished over the years, but is now facing new risks and challenges.
Recent competitiveness studies have shown the need to address the challenge of decreasing competitiveness facing the European food and drink industry. In 2009, the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry issued 30 recommendations 
[416 KB] addressed to policy makers and to private stakeholders. This was followed by the adoption of a Roadmap of Key Initiatives [163 KB] proposing concrete actions and timetable.
In addition, in the Communication 'a better functioning food supply chain in Europe' (COM (2009) 591) , the Commission announced several policy initiatives in this field and committed to maintain a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders in the food supply chain. For this purpose, the Commission decided in July 2010 to extend the scope and membership of the High Level Group by establishing the High Level Forum for a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain with a mandate of two years.
Furthermore, the European Commission regularly organises thematic conferences throughout the EU. These events aim both at disseminating innovation, at publicising EU tools available for small companies in the food sector, and at identifying the best options for future action at local and European levels.
Conferences
DG Enterprise and Industry regularly organises conferences on the competitiveness of the EU food industry. By following the links below, you will find information on how to participate, as well as documentation on past conferences such as speakers' presentations, picture galleries and useful links.
- Belgium 2010
- Italy 2010
- Sweden 2009
- Spain 2009
- Greece 2009
- The Netherlands 2008
- France 2008
- Slovenia 2008
- Belgium 2007
