The European restaurant, cafe and pub industry, which is composed of 1.6 million enterprises (among which 1,5 million micro-enterprises) will not be able to support this Roadmap.
BRUSSELS – HOTREC, the European umbrella association of hotels, restaurants and cafes, raises its strong concerns to the Dutch Presidency about its Roadmap on food product improvement which will be released today in a high level conference organised in Amsterdam.
The European restaurant, cafe and pub industry, which is composed of 1.6 million enterprises (among which 1,5 million micro-enterprises) will not be able to support this Roadmap, as the final text removes a key sentence about the administrative burdens risks faced by SMEs in case of additional legal responsibilities in product composition and consumer information.
“At a time when Europe needs more than ever entrepreneurship, and the contributions of its 1.6 million businesses composing the restaurant, cafe and pub industry, the deletion of this sentence is a very negative signal sent to entrepreneurs and comes in total contradiction with the Juncker’s plan for Growth and Jobs which has flagged the fight against administrative burdens as a top priority” explains Christian de Barrin, CEO of HOTREC.
The deletion of this sentence means that the Roadmap presented by the Dutch presidency will not be able to list the European restaurant industry as a supporter of the initiative, therefore raising doubts about an initiative which would ignore a key stakeholder in the discussions about the nutritional improvement of the food offered to consumers.
“To be efficient, public policy approaches about nutrition and food product improvement must associate the restaurant sector and take into considerations SME’s specific concerns. For this reason, we call on the Dutch Presidency of the EU to acknowledge our specificities and avoid any potential risk of red tape in the final roadmap to be endorsed this Monday” concludes Mr. Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurant Association of Ireland, and co-Chair of the HOTREC Restaurant & Pub task Force.
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