Insight by Kris Dierckx, Marketing Director at Zeelandia Belux & Chair of Fedima’s Marketing & Communications Committee.
Earlier this year, as the new EU legislative cycle for 2024–2029 kicked off, Fedima launched its Manifesto, setting out a clear and proactive agenda for the future of Europe's bakery, confectionery, and patisserie sector. This strategic document detailed seven key policy ingredients necessary to ensure our industry remains innovative, competitive, and sustainable.
From a communications and advocacy perspective, the subsequent campaign successfully achieved its primary goal: establishing our sector's priorities at the very start of the new mandate. The targeted outreach was immediate and effective; we successfully engaged with five key Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), ensuring our voice was heard directly in Brussels on day one. This proactive engagement ensured that our call for a strong, harmonised internal market, and the need for greater clarity for the B2B sector, were placed firmly on the political radar.
The challenge now shifts from agenda-setting to implementation. We have effectively communicated the seven essential ‘ingredients’, from securing science-based regulation to acknowledging the critical impact of climate change on raw materials, but the real work lies in ensuring these points are translated into tangible legislative outcomes.
Fedima remains committed to sustained collaboration throughout this mandate. Our aim is to ensure that the essential role of bread and pastries in European diets is fully recognised, and that our industry operates within a clear, consistent, and supportive framework. We are dedicated to seeing these seven vital policy points fully realised, cementing a truly innovative and sustainable future for the European bakery sector.