The EU continues action against food waste and food poverty by facilitating food donation

Within the framework of the Circular Economy Action Plan, which is considered as the principal vehicle for implementing actions needed at EU level to prevent food waste, in August 2016 the European Commission launched the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste with the aim of addressing this challenge through its diverse composition – Member States, international organisations, the business operators of the food supply chain and non-profit organizations as the European Federation of Food Banks.

Then on 16 May 2016 the plenary session of the European Parliament asopted an own-initiative resolution on “Resource efficiency: reducing food waste, improving food safety” proposed by MEP Biljana Borzan, calling for integrated and coordinated policy action by all key players in order to combat food waste effectively throughout the EU.

The commitment of the EU on this topic has advanced over time and on the occasion of the World Food Day 2017 the European Commission adopted guidelines to facilitate food donation in the EU, a key deliverable of the Circular Economy Action Plan. These guidelines were developed by the Commission in close cooperation with the members of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste bringing together. The guidelines were published on the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 October 2017 and now they are already available in all EU languages.

These guidelines aim to clarify relevant provisions in EU legislation and help to lift barriers to food redistribution within the current EU regulatory framework. The EU guidelines will help donors and recipients of surplus food to make sure that they respect relevant requirements such as food hygiene and food information to consumers, thereby ensuring safe food donation practices. The guidelines also promote common interpretation of EU rules applicable to food donation, including those related to VAT.

This work will continue with the collection and sharing of best practices outlining how food donation is implemented at national level.