# EUR-Lex - 52013DC0255 - EN

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# 52013DC0255

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU Participation at the World Expo 2015 in Milan "Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life" /* COM/2013/0255 final */**

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

EU Participation at the World Expo 2015 in
  Milan "Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life"

1. Introduction and context

The World Expo 2015 will take place in Milan from 1 May to 31 October 2015 on the theme "Feeding the Planet: Energy for
Life". This edition of the Expo is meant to become a milestone of
planetary debate on food and sustainability and will be a platform for
political discussions and policy initiatives on these issues. Over 120
countries have already confirmed their participation, attesting to the
significant commitment generated by this event.

A total of 20 million visitors are expected,
offering a valuable opportunity to inform and communicate with European (and
International) citizens on the critical topics brought forward by the Expo. In
parallel a "cyber Expo" targeting 1 billion Internet users will be
deployed, further increasing the scope for impact.

Expos have always been major international
events in which countries, private stakeholders and organisations present and
promote their identity, their policies and achievements in relation to Expo
themes. But more than just a cultural event, this edition of the Expo will also
be political as countries and international organisations come together to
discuss the ever-growing issues of food and sustainability. The EU should
therefore aim to establish its role as a key player in this global debate and
take this opportunity to work towards fruitful collaboration on these matters
with other stakeholders, both public and private.

The European institutions have so far
actively participated in all previous editions of the Expo which took place in the
EU and in most of those organised overseas. Furthermore, reports from previous
EU participation show that such an event can have an important impact on
citizens' perception of and attitude to the EU.

On the basis of these considerations the Commission has been actively investigating options for
participation. This Communication, which is based on extensive analysis of past
Expos, sets out the planned objectives, practical considerations and suggested
approaches to optimise the EU's participation in Expo Milan in close
partnership between the Commission, the European Parliament and other
interested EU institutions.

2. Objectives and benefits of EU
participation

Communication

With the potential to reach millions of
visitors, the Expo offers the occasion to communicate key EU achievements in
the fields of food and sustainability. The timing of the event coincides with
the closing year of the Millennium Development Goals and the beginning of a
post-2015 framework that will address also the Sustainable Development Goals. The
EU's contribution and successes in achieving these goals should be highlighted
and, in parallel, what the EU sees as being the challenges ahead and how the EU
is prepared to tackle them.

Furthermore, 2015 will be the midpoint of
the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Expo will be the ideal
occasion to showcase the interim results of the Strategy in the areas relevant
to the Expo, including what the Member States acting together have been able to
achieve, and communicate the objectives for the second half of Europe 2020,
hereby promoting positive reception and understanding of EU policies.

An initiative to nominate 2015 as the
European Year for Development Cooperation is also currently underway. Should it
be successful, the Expo would be an excellent communication platform.

The EU should primarily seek to communicate
one clear and accessible message through its physical space encompassing the
common aims of relevant EU institutions in the domains of food and
sustainability. In addition, the participating EU institutions should delve
deeper into more specific and contentious issues through the organisation of
conferences and events.

Policy Development

The Expo will be the ideal opportunity for
an open and forward-looking exchange with citizens, with a great potential for
future policy development. Indeed, more than being just informative, EU
participation should aim towards interaction with the visitors and be an
occasion for discussion. Some relevant questions which would stimulate the
visitors would be identified beforehand and tested on focus groups.

Moreover, in order to further strengthen
the impact of the Expo as an impetus for progress and a solution-finding step
in the domains of "food security", "food safety",
"sustainability" and "food, peace and culture", the
organisers have created a Strategy Document, which was distributed by the Expo
2015 Commissioner General to the country representatives on 10.10.2012[1].

This document is a living document aiming
on the one hand to lead to the publication of a manifesto to be signed by the
visitors to engage them on a personal level and on the other hand to serve as
an opportunity for a policy get together to move the political agenda. All
participants will contribute to this living document in the run up to the Expo
and the Commission will provide its reply to the first draft of the Strategy
Document in the course of 2013.

Education

As well as being worldwide issues, the four
topics given in the Strategy Document are also critical to many EU policies and
affect the life of EU citizens on a daily basis. Indeed, these issues are far
reaching: whilst food security, with hunger and under-nutrition, is a crucial
issue, particularly in developing countries, there is also the growing matter
in Europe of increasing obesity and diseases linked to over-consumption or ill-informed
food choices.

Food safety has become in the last fifteen
years a central element of the EU policies in this area and the basis of a real
model for the rest of the world; the EU approach to food is at the same time
the precondition to guarantee the safety of its citizens and consumers and the
milestone on which is based the reputation and success of the EU food industry
worldwide. Sustainability is an issue of increasing importance to EU citizens
as well as globally, as it is becoming ever more important to use resources more
efficiently to ensure the prosperity of future generations and limit the impact
on the environment, preserving already constrained natural resources. With this
in mind, EU participation should also aim to be educative and not only raise
awareness but also present visitors with solution-based approaches in the areas
of food and sustainability, empowering citizens to make positive lifestyle
changes for example by reducing food waste and making healthier food choices.

3. Practical considerations

The Exhibition site area is located
northwest of Milan and will cover 1.1 million m2. The area of the Expo site
will have a hosting capacity of 140 000 visitors per day and will be
developed along two perpendicular axes, the "Decumanus" (1.5 km)
where some 70 self-built exhibition spaces are located, and the
"Cardus" (350 m) reserved for the Italian exhibitors.

The Expo is being constructed as a smart
city, built with innovative design and the most advanced technologies for full
interactivity (e.g. by using augmented reality and social networking),
eco-design, smart mobility, queue managing techniques, energy efficiency, and
waste minimisation and recycling. In order to ensure coherence, the design and
construction of the different buildings will follow strongly harmonised rules.

In order to have a significant impact,
ensure continuous interaction and communication with the visitors throughout
the event and strengthen the image of the EU as a global political player, it
would be optimum to have a physical presence for the EU for the duration of the
Expo.

The Italian organisers have offered a prime
space for the EU within the Italian Pavilion in the Cardus area in front of the
Palazzo Italia and by the Lake Arena where major institutional, cultural and
recreational events will be held. As it will be the most visited area of the
Expo, this should further maximise the impact of a dedicated EU space.

The total space provisionally reserved for
the EU is 1500 m2, which would be constituted of a 3-story building, the first
floor reserved as an exhibition space, the second floor for meeting rooms and
conference rooms and the third floor for an open air terrace. The proximity to Palazzo
Italia, which will include a conference centre available also for EU events,
would allow limiting space requirements and costs.

The presence of the EU in the Cardus area
could be accompanied by a more widespread on-site presence which could make use
of digital technologies of communication. This could also be the basis to
create interaction and synergies with the Cyber-expo and its expected 1 billion
cyber-visitors. In this respect, due to its highly innovative and technological
profile, Expo 2015 will be radically different from all the previous World
Expos: visitors will fully master and pre-arrange their visit and experience
through the use of websites, apps and smart technologies. It will thus be essential
to design new smart ways to interact and attract visitors, within and outside
the EU space.

Budget

In consideration of the current budget
constraints, it is envisaged that the EU participates in the Expo Milan within
a limited physical space of 1500 m2, which is half the size of the space used in
Expo Hanover[2]
with a view to limiting the associated costs.

The
physical presence reserved by the Italian organisers for the EU institutions
would require a core budget of about EUR 10 million spread over the years 2014
and 2015. Given
the Expo's focus on agriculture and sustainability the baseline resources will
be drawn from the relevant budget heading. Additional
resources will be mobilised in 2015 for the organisation of thematic events and
exhibitions in the frame of existing or planned budget.

4. Preliminary proposals for EU
participation

It will be crucial to have a simple EU
message, emphasising the key role played by the EU in the food area. We can
learn from previous Expos that citizens visit several pavilions, spending very
little time in each one, and will remember a few key ideas only. It must also
be noted that this message will have to be thought out with the view that there
might be a shift from current concerns between now and 2015. This message will
also have to be receivable by 'the man in the street' and should ideally be
tested on focus groups prior to the Expo.

Within the context of this message and
through the organisation of events by the DGs, several examples of EU
initiatives and policies in the domains of food and sustainability could be
explored, such as the following:

–
The Expo themes are primarily directed to
agriculture, a sector in which the EU, most notably through the CAP but also
through many other policies, is extremely active. For example, it would be an
interesting test case to follow up on the outcome of the International Year of
Family Farming (2014) and look in detail at the agricultural cooperative
movement, with a clear focus on institution building in developing countries, especially
 Africa.

–
Food represents a building block of the EU
economy: the EU is the biggest world exporter in the field and the EU food
industry is its largest manufacturing industry, generating an annual turnover
of almost EUR 1 trillion and employing more than 4 million people. The active
presence of the EU in the Expo will be crucial to shape policy debate and
possible strategies for the future of this area and by doing so to further
promote industrial competitiveness and export.

–
The EU is the largest development aid donor
worldwide and this will be the opportunity to show European citizens and the
world the extent of EU actions in the domain of food and nutrition security in
the most vulnerable regions of the world. Still within the context of food
security, a particular focus of the Expo will be the issue of food waste.
Indeed, whilst hunger is still a critical global problem, especially in
developing countries, 40% of the food produced for human consumption is wasted
annually around the world. The EU is leading the way in the commitment in this
field and aims to halve the disposal of edible food
waste by 2020. Specific work in this direction has already started with the direct
involvement of stakeholders and the Expo will be the opportunity to show
results and communicate best practice.

–
Food is part of our common and diversified
cultural heritage, a worldwide symbol of the "EU way of life". This
is partly the result of the policies put in place by the EU in the crucial
fields of food safety and food quality. Particularly with regards to food safety,
the EU, with its science-based approach founded on the clear separation between
risk assessment and risk management, is acknowledged as being a model for the
rest of the world. Regarding food quality, this is becoming increasingly
important in today's health conscious society and in view of the ever clearer
link between food and health. Once again the EU is at the forefront of the
discussion in this field, promoting, both in terms of education and policy
development, healthy standards in the field of nutrition, based on the parallel
track of stakeholders' active commitment and consumers' information.

–
The issue of environmental sustainability which
is becoming a worldwide priority and a growing concern in our society is
intrinsically linked with the topic of food. EU achievements in the sector of
sustainable energy, in particular for efficient use and sustainable production
of energy should also be emphasised. In this context, the impacts of the
"Sustainable Energy for All" initiative launched in 2012 on the Expo
themes could be explored.

–
Finally, the Expo would be the ideal opportunity
to build on EU activities and achievements in the field of research and
innovation, for instance by showcasing results from important R&D projects
supported by the EU Framework Programmes which are relevant to the future of
food and agriculture, also in the context of the Expo scientific programme.

Expo and Cultural and Scientific
Events

The Expo will be an exceptional occasion
for participants to organise cultural and scientific events (conferences,
seminars, temporary exhibitions etc.) to further bring forward key EU messages,
better communicate and stimulate exchange with citizens. These events will
require long-term planning in order to manage budget and workload constraints
and to maximise impact.

In addition to this, relevant events that
are already scheduled for 2015 could be set up in Expo Milan rather than at
another location.

With regards to scientific events, the
European Commission (Joint Research Centre)’s site of Ispra is located just 60
km from the Expo site and hosts several experimental laboratories, including
the EU reference laboratories for Food Contact Materials and GM Food and Feed. The
Joint Research Centre (JRC) is also carrying out research activities which are
closely related to the theme, such as on water management, climate change, land
use, desertification, biofuels, etc. In preparation for the Expo, the JRC is currently
building a new visitors' centre that would be able to host a larger number of
visitors. The JRC will offer its support and infrastructure to other institutions
who may wish to organise expert events in Ispra back-to-back to other events in
the Expo. Regular shuttles may be organised for interested experts and
researchers who wish to visit the JRC site in Ispra.

5. Conclusions and steps to be taken

Expo Milan 2015 represents a unique
opportunity for the EU to reinforce its role as a global actor in the
development of future initiatives on food and sustainability, to communicate
with its citizens and to convey past achievements and future objectives to its
citizens. In order to maximise the impact, it is appropriate for the EU to have
its own space for maximum visibility. This space has been offered by and should
be rented from the Italian organisers.

To ensure high value for money, the
preparation of EU participation should start early and take into account
current budget constraints. In view of these constraints, the Commission
proposes to limit the EU's physical presence to half of the space used in the
last European Expo in Hanover in 2000. This will require a core budget of about EUR 10 million spread over the
years 2014 and 2015. Additional resources will need to be
mobilised in 2015 for the organisation of thematic events and exhibitions in
the frame of existing or planned budget.

The Commission invites the Parliament and
other interested EU institutions to join in close partnership with the
Commission in order to maximise the benefits from the Expo by presenting a
common EU approach and coherent policy messages to the public.

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[1]               http://www.padiglioneitaliaexpo2015.com/RLExpoImpaginatocompleto.pdf

[2]               In the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the EU was hosted
by Belgium within its pavilion.