The following, non-exclusive legislation is deemed most relevant for this opinion.

Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety.

Directive (EU) 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (the RED Directive), setting up criteria for the evaluation of sustainability criteria to be applied to organic waste used for energy purposes.

Directive 2008/98/EC as amended by Directive 2018/851 (The Waste Framework Directive) defines food waste and sets obligation on food waste prevention (hierarchy, reporting, planning).

Regulation EC 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.

Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax.

Commission Notice (2020/C 199/01) providing guidance on food safety management systems for food retail activities, including food donations.

Commission Notice (2017/C 361/01) providing EU guidelines on food donation.

Further sources of evidence:

Legislation framework webpage (food safety)

EU actions against food waste/food donation

EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste

Fit for Future Platform

The Platform suggested to:

1: Ease administrative burden for food donors

2: Explore how to ensure coherence of the Directive for the promotion of renewable energy (RED) with the revised waste Directive in order to ensure that waste hierarchy is fully applied to surplus food

3: Better link between ESF+ (ex-FEAD, Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived) and financial instruments at Member States’ level

4: Encourage EU research on food packaging

Follow up by the Commission

Actions to reduce food waste, including actions to promote food donation have been a key priority for the Commission since 2015 with the adoption of the Circular Economy Action Plan and, since 2020, under the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy. In 2017, the Commission adopted EU guidelines on food donation. By clarifying relevant provisions in EU legislation, the guidelines ensure safe food donation practices whilst helping to lift barriers and ease administrative burdens for food business operators. The Commission further introduced, in 2021, amendments in EU food hygiene legislation in order to lay down certain requirements to promote and facilitate food donation whilst ensuring its safety for consumers. These address, for instance, how the ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates shall be applied in the context of food redistribution, and authorise the freezing of meat at retail level, under specific conditions, in order to facilitate its safe redistribution by food banks and other charities to people in need.

The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FLW) established in 2016 facilitates sharing of best practices in food waste prevention. For example, in 2019, the Platform adopted forward-looking, cross-cutting recommendations for actions across various stages of the food value chain, often involving multiple actors and including these on food redistribution, as well as a document illustrating how Member States implement the EU food donation guidelines in practice.

To ease the administrative burden for food donors, the Fit for Future Platform suggested updating the EU Guidelines on Food Donation. The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste is currently undertaking a new exercise to identify and assess the barriers to food donation and opportunities to facilitate this practice by actors in the food supply chain as well as priority areas for action (including both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives). The Commission will, based on the outcome of this exercise, consider updating the guidelines.

In order to accelerate food waste reduction in Member States, in July 2023 the Commission adopted a proposal amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, which, amongst other, set EU-wide, legally binding food waste reduction targets. Setting targets will further drive Member States in implementing actions, following the waste prevention hierarchy which favours the use of surplus food as a priority for human consumption. The Commission will also revise the EU rules on date marking aiming to prevent food waste linked to the misunderstanding and/or misuse of the “use by” and “best before” dates, without jeopardising food safety, and further ease the safe redistribution of food passed the “best before date”.

Recently, the Commission has embarked for the first time on a new generation of citizens’ panels, with the first panel convened to discuss how to drive further action and accelerate food waste reduction in the EU. The panel met over three weekends between December 2022 and February 2023 and concluded their work with 23 recommendations that will support the work of the Commission, Member States and all key players to prevent food waste. The citizens’ focus on a fair and equitable food supply chain that ensures solidarity, including redistribution of surplus food to those in need, is widely reflected in the Platform’s suggestions, corroborating further its findings.

The Fit for Future Platform has also stressed the role that the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD) can play through the financing of food donation activities. With the integration of FEAD under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the rules were revised in 2021 and work undertaken to reduce administrative burden and set simpler rules for the financing of operations such as the redistribution of food. The sub-group on food donation – under the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste – in its meetings invites Member States and food redistribution operators, such as food banks, to share their experiences with the use of funding obtained from the (EFS+).

The Fit for Future Platform has also highlighted the role that innovative food packaging solutions may play in reducing the amount of food surplus that ends up as waste. Work is ongoing on the revision of the Food Contact Materials legislation, and a public consultation was completed in January 2023. The revision will look at policy measures to ensure the safety of sustainable food contact solutions, including packaging, reusable and recycled articles, the hygiene of reuse systems, and possibly other measures to support the sustainable production and use of food contact materials.

Meanwhile, research in next-generation packaging is supported by many EU funding programmes for innovation and research, including Horizon Europe.

Finally, there are a number of ongoing measures intended to mainstream sustainability through all food-related policies, including a proposal establishing an EU framework for a Union sustainable food system.