The closing session of the European Citizens’ Panel on food waste took place in Brussels on 10-12 February, allowing 150 randomly selected EU citizens to provide input on how to combat the problem. Following the notion of embedding participatory and deliberative practices in the European Commission’s policy-making process on certain key policy areas, the attendees drafted a set of 23 ideas, which have been reviewed and discussed by a group of experts on 10 February. On that occasion, FEBA has been invited and provided input on ideas related to strengthening cooperation in the food value chain. Two additional focus groups evaluated proposals on encouraging relevant initiatives in the food industry and supporting consumer-behaviour change.
After another round of deliberations, where the experts’ opinion has been used to further work on the ideas, they were finally translated into 23 concrete recommendations aimed at boosting ongoing efforts at reducing food waste and presented during a Plenary Meeting.
As a next step, the Citizens’ Panel’s recommendations will complement the impact assessment and open public consultation carried out by the Commission on the EU initiative to revise the Waste Framework Directive with binding food waste reduction targets.
The final recommendations can be found here.
