A new episode of Futuro Prossimo, Competere’s podcast, was out on Friday, June 8. Guest Herbert Dorfmann, to talk about the challenges posed to food security and the strategies adopted by the European Union to address them. 

>> Watch the episode (in Italian) <<

Leggi in italiano

“If the palm oil that enters Europe is nearly all certified sustainable, it is thanks to EU regulations which have given a sustainability policy to producer countries.” This is a remark by Herbert Dorfmann, member of the European Parliament and rapporteur of the Farm to Fork dossier, the sustainable nutrition strategy currently being adopted in the EU. Dorfmann took part in “Futuro Prossimo”, the Competere podcast open to discussion on current issues regarding sustainability, the energy and raw materials crisis, and the food emergency.

However, in our view, much more still needs to be done. Both by the EU, which risks taking a step backwards due to being influenced by populist opinion that would like to see stricter certification standards. As well as by producer countries who often opt for the easy approach of forming partnerships with governments that are less strict, thus only creating an advantage for those who speculate. 

What are needed, therefore, are collaborative bilateral policies to improve the resilience and sustainability of supply chains and, above all, to have truly loyal friendships with suppliers of European businesses. We are not in favour of friendshoring, but we believe that in this particular moment in time, the creation of special partnerships could safeguard the well-being of the population and improve the social-economic and political conditions in friendly countries.