2024-03-27 16:08:08
Called to order by the European Commission and its free trade doctrine, the City of Brussels has modified the objective of the Climate Plan aimed at promoting the use of sustainable and local products by Brussels Kitchens.
At the municipal council last Monday, the City of Brussels modified a few lines of its Climate Plan adopted in 2022 which aims to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 and adapt its territory to the effects of climate change. Among the 400 actions in this text, we found the following desire: “At least 50% of the fruits and vegetables of Cuisines Bruxelloises are produced in Belgium and 10% in Brussels or the surrounding area.”
According to the services of the European Commission, Cuisines Bruxelloises seems to have created a national preference in supply markets, which is not compatible with the principle of an open market.
An incompatible national preference
Les Cuisines Bruxelloises served last year 5.5 million meals in schools, nurseries, hospitals and rest homes in the City of Brussels and nine other municipalities of the Capital Region. The idea was therefore that this significant public expenditure would benefit local and sustainable agriculture.
But this objective is now reformulated as follows: “In a logic of reterritorialization of agriculture, and if current European public procurement regulations allow itat least 50% of the fruits and vegetables acquired by Cuisines Bruxelloises come from local production sectors and contribute to the objectives of the European Farm To Fork strategy.”
Not insignificant, this change comes after a warning from the European Commission. In a letter sent to the regional authority, the Commission services indicate that the initial objective of the City of Brussels does not respect the principles of free movement of goods of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. And to add that the Cuisines Bruxelloises seem to have created a national preference in supply markets, which is not compatible with the principle of an open market to which any producer has free access under conditions of effective competition.
“With the current rules, only wholesalers exerting gigantic pressure on farmers and customers can respond to such public contracts. And we are obliged to take them.”
Small players excluded
“We are legalists so we have adapted the disputed objective”, indicates the Brussels Climate Alderman who however deplores the primacy of the principle of free trade over other priorities such as the relocation of agriculture.
“We order 500 tonnes of potatoes per year. With the current rules, only wholesalers exerting gigantic pressure on farmers and customers can respond to such public contracts. And we are obliged to take them. Recently, we canceled an order for organic apples that were going to be shipped from New Zealand…“, says Benoît Hellings (Ecolo).
The ecologist affirms that he is not trying to favor particular actors. “We want to guarantee competition between producers, but within a scope allowing the creation of sales channels for small agricultural units which produce locally and organically and which need this security. Today, it is almost impossible for them to have access to local authority markets!“
Benoît Hellings is not the only city councilor to be moved by this situation. In Wilfried’s last issue, the mayor of Bastogne, Benoît Lutgen (Les Engagés), expresses his desire to go beyond European legislation in this area. “If I want to build a large statue of Wilfried on the roundabout and choose my artist, no problem. But if I want to offer local products to children in schools, to elders in homes, I can’t do it. We walk on the head…”
“If we want to reconnect the consumer with the producer, we must relax these rules and integrate the local criterion into public procurement.”
Lobbying des villes
The City of Brussels has certainly lost a battle, but not the war. On Monday, the majority voted for the provision of 2.7 hectares of land in Sterrebeek to market gardeners who will supply, in exchange for the concession, vegetables to the Cuisines Bruxelloises. As it will be its own production, it will not be subject to public procurement rules. Although likely to be multiplied in other areas if successful, this pilot project will still represent only a tiny part of the needs.
At the same time, Brussels will therefore mainly work to develop European law. A joint declaration has already been drawn up with other European citiesincluding Paris, where the deputy mayor, Audrey Pulvar, is also pleading for a food exception in public markets. This text calls for the alignment of public procurement rules with other European ambitions in terms of water quality, soil preservation, reduction of emissions, etc.
“We have the green light from the municipal council to mobilize our diplomatic relations in order to get as many European cities as possible to adhere to this declaration approved in January,” rejoices Benoît Hellings.
The Brussels alderman is convinced that by coming together, local authorities represent a powerful lever of transformation for the agricultural fabric. “By prioritizing free trade over all other considerations, European directives make intermediaries all-powerful. If we want to reconnect the consumer with the producer, we must relax these rules and integrate the local criterion into public procurement. This makes it possible to guide and finance the transition which cannot rely solely on the goodwill of producers, but also on the public authorities who choose to order these products.“
The summary
- In its Climate Plan, the City of Brussels set the objective thatat least 50% of the fruits and vegetables of Cuisines Bruxelloises are produced in Belgium.
- The European Commission considers that this is not not compatible with the rules relating to the free movement of goods within the European Union.
- The Climate Alderman Benoît Hellings (Ecolo) has modified his Climate Plan while deploring the impossibility of supporting sustainable and local agriculture through public procurement.
- Developed in partnership with other cities, a joint declaration aims to modernize European public procurement law to include a food exception.
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