The purpose of this event, held online on Friday 18 February 2022, was to launch the large-scale skills partnership for the agri-food ecosystem, that has been set up in the context of the EU Pact for Skills.  EQVEGAN joined the event as one of the first supporting projects of the partnership.

The meeting started with brief openings by Hubert Gambs (Deputy Director-General, DG GROW) and Michael Scannell (Deputy Director-General, DG AGRI), who introduced the Pact for skills initiative and remarked its relevance for the green and digital transition of the different EU industrial sectors.

Sonia De Melo Xavier (Policy Assistant, DG EMPL.B.2) followed with indications on how the European Commission can support the agri-food pact of skills. Miguel Fernandez Diez (Policy Officer, DG EMPL.B.2), presented some examples of commitments from other skills partnerships (automotive, microelectronics, aerospace and defence, shipbuilding, textiles, offshore renewable energy), and highlighted how concrete actions are important to mobilise public and private stakeholders.

Then, core presentations continued with the partnership challenges (Manuel Delgado, Policy Advisor on Employment & Social Affairs, Copa-Cogeca), partnership proposal (Jonas Lazaro Mojica, Senior Manager Food Policy, Science and R&D, FoodDrinkEurope) and its governance model (Daniele Rossi and Remigio Berruto, Blueprint FIELDS coordinators).

There was also time for exchange of views with stakeholders, introducing topics such as the importance of social dialogue, make the best use of previous knowledge (as examples EQVEGAN, FIELDS, and ASKFOOD projects), pact developments at country and working groups level and funding opportunities.

Dirk Jacobs (Director General, FoodDrinkEurope) concluded the meeting remarking the importance of the agri-food pact of skills to improve the sustainability and attractiveness of the sector and thanked the European Commission and DGs for their commitment with the pact.

More info: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1517&langId=en