Parliament vote on predictable working risks retail jobs
EuroCommerce warned, after the vote today in the European Parliament’s EMPL Committee on the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive, that some of their amendments will act against the interests of both temporary and permanent workers in the retail sector. EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren said:
“Our sector employs 29 million Europeans, and one in five of every young person employed in Europe. The sector faces a major challenge in the shift to online sales and further competitive pressure on its margins. By removing the flexibility needed by the sector to employ extra staff at peak times such as Christmas, the Parliament is putting at risk not only temporary jobs, but the future of retailers with permanent employees as well.”
Making the circular economy work means working together
Opening the first conference on circular economy dedicated to retail and wholesale, EuroCommerce President Régis Degelcke said: “If there are three words we should all think of in terms of the circular economy, they are cooperation, consistency and commitment. Retailers and wholesalers are pushing and will – push ahead with creating sustainable solutions, but these can only be effective with the active and committed participation of all, working together to achieve the right results across all sectors.”
Delivering a keynote address on the state of play in circular economy, Janez Potočnik, former EU Commissioner for the Environment, and current co-chair of the UN International Resource Panel, said: “With growing population and increased pressure on resources, circular economy is not an environmental policy, it’s a logical solution to the challenges faced in the 21st century: we need to change the way we produce, we consume and we live.”
ENVI Committee fails to hit the right target on plastic litter
Read moreThe European Parliament Environment Committee voted today to amend the Commission’s proposal on the reduction of the impact of plastics on the environment. This proposal aims to prevent littering from 10 single-use plastic products frequently found on Europe’s beaches.
UTPs directive – from balanced proposal to witch hunt?
Read moreSpeaking after the vote in the European Parliament AGRI committee this evening, EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren warned that the debate and vote in the Parliament has moved the discussion towards a witch hunt against retailers and wholesalers:
“The Commission put forward a proposal aimed at protecting farmers and SME processors. In the course of parliamentary discussions, driven by slogans such as ‘Fairness for all’, the directive as amended protects big food multinationals, and the debate has turned into a targeted and direct attack on legitimate negotiations between retailers and suppliers”.
"The Narratives"
EuroCommerce Narrative on Retail and Wholesale in a changing world…
The world is changing rapidly. Retailers and wholesalers have repeatedly shown how resilient and adaptive they are, and are moving ahead with embracing this change, providing value to customers, suppliers, and society at large. This great story is worth telling – both to the sector and to the wider world. And the story needs to say clearly what we want from the EU and from national governments to make our sector sustainably competitive.
Retail and wholesale CEOs warn of the danger of favouring powerful multinational food processors in UTP legislation
Read moreThe CEOs of 22[1] leading retailers and wholesalers across Europe have written to the Chair of the EU Agriculture Council, Mrs Elisabeth Köstinger to express their intense concern at the idea currently being promoted by powerful multinational food processors that they need protection against retailers, in the UTPs directive currently under consideration by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. They question both the legality and the economic consequences for consumers, farmers, and small-and-medium enterprises, of giving one powerful set of players even more power. They ask Mrs Köstinger to seek a formal opinion from the Council Legal Service on the legality of such extended protection.
Retailers and wholesalers want to tackle plastic waste, but with focus on what will work best
Read moreSpeaking after today’s vote at the EP Plenary on the own-initiative report by Mark Demesmaeker MEP (ECR, BE) on the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren repeated the retail and wholesale sector’s commitment to creating a circular economy, but highlighted the need for a proper focus in the draft legislation the Commission has now proposed.