EU Ecolabel for food and feed products – feasibility study

The environmental impacts of the production and processing of food, feed and drinks make up between 20% and 30% of the total environmental impacts of consumable goods in the EU. In the case of eutrophication (the accumulation of nutrients in water causing a reduction in oxygen availability) they account for as much as 58% of the total impacts. The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary scheme that forms part of overall EU policy to encourage more sustainable consumption and production. To date, the EU Ecolabel scheme has developed criteria for products in the non-food sector. The Regulation that governs the scheme (66/2010) aims to extend the EU Ecolabel into new product categories including food. However, the Regulation stipulates that before extending to the food sector, a feasibility study should be undertaken

Poverty, social exclusion and the EU minimum income scheme

Poverty and social exclusion affect the basic rights of every citizen and are evidenced in different social dimensions. Public authorities shall act at all levels for adopting measures and actions for eradicating all these serious problems which prevent from achieving a balanced European social model. The Opinion approved on 11th December 2013 by the European Economic and Social Committee points out the priority need of developing an action framework on active inclusion and drafting a Directive that guarantees an adequate minimum income scheme in all Member States. The majority of studies coincide in the convenience of introducing an European instrument legally binding to support and regulate the Minimum Income. However the margins of that mechanism are actually delimitated and also conditioned by the subsidiarity principleLa pobreza y la exclusión social afectan derechos básicos de todo ciudadano, se hacen evidentes en distintas dimensiones sociales y son necesarias actuaciones por parte de los poderes públicos, y a todos los niveles, para adoptar las medidas y acciones que conlleven la erradicación de estos graves problemas que impiden alcanzar un modelo social europeo equilibrado. El Dictamen aprobado por el Comité Económico y Social el 11 de diciembre de 2013 sobre la Renta mínima europea e indicadores de pobreza subraya la prioridad de poner en marcha una Directiva Marco que extienda los regímenes de renta mínima a todos los Estados miembros. La mayoría de los estudios coinciden en la conveniencia de introducir un instrumento europeo legalmente vinculante para regular la Renta Mínima. Sin embargo, los márgenes para la introducción de un sistema de renta mínima aparecen delimitados actualmente, y también condicionados por el principio de subsidiariedad