Building Growth & Competitiveness: The EU Starch Industry's Political Priorities for 2024-2029

Agricultural raw material prices are a key component of the sector’s competitiveness as they are its biggest input cost. European farmers need support to transition, including access to technological developments such as new genomic techniques, digitalisation, precision farming, and generally more sustainable farming practices.

We would need:

• Increased support given to farmers to help in their sustainability and decarbonisation efforts while maintaining their resilience and competitiveness, and ensuring a fair revenue for them

• Maintaining a high level of production of wheat, maize and starch potatoes in the EU, to ensure availability and affordability of high-quality EU-grown agricultural raw materials for the starch industry

The EU Green Deal has set extremely ambitious decarbonisation targets, but has, thus far, not always matched these targets with either the policy support or financial support needed for their implementation. Financial support for the roll out and implementation of existing technologies, and support for innovation, are both crucial for our energy intensive sector to have the necessary tools to help it achieve its decarbonisation targets.

We would need:

• Financial support for the decarbonisation of our industry based on mature and proven technologies (energy efficiency, electrification, biomass, geothermal energy), as well as the long-term availability and competitiveness of electricity and biomass for energy use

• Technical innovation support to increase the use of renewable energy and reduce emissions, thus helping ensure fair market access entry conditions and a focus on domestic innovation

• A dedicated EU Food Investment and Resilience Plan to help our industries manage, and invest for, this transition while remaining financially resilient and competitive

As the EU moves towards a more sustainable food system, it is vital to adopt a holistic view of all the components forming this food system, including those beyond food itself.

One expectation is that demand for plant-based proteins from EU food industry customers will increase. EU starch producers are perfectly placed to help meet this increased demand. This will also inevitably entail the production of more carbohydrates, and a need to find new markets for these additional carbohydrates.

These carbohydrates are well placed to replace fossil-based inputs in non-food applications. This will require a more holistic approach in policy making, notably to help foster a more vibrant EU Bioeconomy.

We would need:

• Continuing existing financial support for the EU Bioeconomy linked to, for example, the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan and Horizon Europe

• Help, support and promote the bioeconomy, as a key building block for a broader sustainable food system, including in research & development and market creation

• To further the sustainable development and production of EU-cultivated plant-based protein sources of sufficient quality and in sufficient quantities

• The recognition of the important role of processing in turning our EU-grown cereals and protein crops into plant-based protein ingredients for sustainable and healthy food and drink products

• Policy makers should support fact and science-based policy making and communication, including recognising the importance of our ingredients to European diets and overall sustainability

Measures must continue to be taken to guarantee our competitiveness and protect the EU AgriFood chain from international competitors, which are often not subject to the same strict regulatory and sustainability rules as EU producers.

We would need:

• Support for the principles of a rules-based international trade system

• In the absence of a level playing field with international competitors, the sensitivity of the EU starch industry and its crucial role in guaranteeing EU food security must be taken into account in EU FTA negotiations

The starch industry is a capital intensive one. Investment is for the long-term, making a predictable regulatory environment a pre-requisite. EU-wide solutions must always be sought whenever possible, to ensure that the integrity of the EU Single Market be safeguarded.

We would need:

• A balanced approach between the diverse sustainability goals to remain the norm. This requires the continued reliance on a proportionate risk-based approach which encourages technological development

• The safeguarding and advancing of the Single Market through the continued emphasis on harmonized EU-wide solutions including for implementation of rules

• Ensuring that the principles of proportionality, adequate transition times, and full stakeholder input in the regulatory process in order to guarantee a predictable regulatory environment