FoodDrinkEurope welcomes President von der Leyen’s strong focus on competitiveness in today’s State of the Union address and calls for food and drink to be recognised as a strategic European industry. Concrete action is now needed to unlock the sector’s full contribution to Europe’s prosperity, food security and independence. As Europe’s largest manufacturing industry – supporting 4.8 million jobs and transforming 70% of EU agricultural produce into safe, high-quality and affordable products – the sector is ready to invest, innovate and help deliver Europe’s ambitions.
“President von der Leyen is right to put competitiveness at the heart of Europe’s economic agenda. For food and drink manufacturers, this means tackling high energy costs, regulatory complexity, climate resilience challenges and Single Market fragmentation while creating the conditions for investment and innovation,” said Dirk Jacobs, Director General of FoodDrinkEurope.
FoodDrinkEurope particularly welcomes the recognition of agri-food as one of the five industrial sectors in which Europe should harness AI, alongside the focus on affordable energy, water resilience, a stronger Single Market, simplification, trade diversification and access to new markets.
“The message from industry is simple: Europe has set the ambition; the next step is joint delivery. We therefore call for an EU Food and Drink Package centred on five priorities: investment and affordable energy; a stronger Single Market and fairer commercial relations; faster innovation, including AI; open trade and secure supplies; and simpler, more coherent rules, including an end to national gold-plating. Together, they would strengthen resilience and give food and drink businesses – especially SMEs – the confidence to invest, innovate and grow in Europe,” Dirk Jacobs argued.
FoodDrinkEurope’s latest CEO survey highlights the urgency: only 13% of companies reported improved business conditions over the past year, down 11 percentage points from the previous survey, and Europe has fallen behind North America and Asia to become the third most attractive investment destination. At the same time, the survey confirms that Europe has a strong foundation on which to rebuild investment and business confidence through rapid, coordinated action.
“Food security, competitiveness and strategic autonomy are inseparable. Europe cannot strengthen its resilience without a competitive food manufacturing base connecting farmers to consumers,” Jacobs concluded.
