# CE2004084EN.01018301.xml

| 3.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 84/183 |
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3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 84/183

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(2004/C 84 E/0223)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0251/04

by Roberta Angelilli (UEN) to the Commission

(3 February 2004)

Subject:   Labelling of bread

Subject:

Recently, Italian bakers joined forces in a campaign to save their profession. They have drafted a proposal for a law to regulate the use of the term ‘fresh bread’, to ensure that it is applied only to bread made by traditional methods and sold on the day it is made. Consequently, only undertakings which are responsible for the whole production process from beginning to end will be able to call themselves ‘bakeries’, and will be able to label their bread as ‘fresh bread’. The problem that Italian bakers — and European bakers in general — have had to cope with for many years now is competition from bread sold in supermarkets. In most cases, supermarket bread is a product which is partially baked in the factory, frozen and transported to the place of sale, where it is placed in electric ovens to give it a similar colour, appearance and taste to freshly baked bread. By this means, the supermarkets manage to be extremely competitive on the market by reducing production costs. Bakers practising their profession in the traditional way are obliged — by the very nature of the product — to work at night, and consequently to pay their employees a higher rate, which greatly increases the cost of fresh bread. Consequently, consumers — as shown by recent surveys — are increasingly likely, on economic grounds, to buy their bread in supermarkets. Often, however, consumers base their decision to do so on a mistaken assumption, which is that the product they are buying is the same as, rather than similar to, the product offered by traditional bakeries.

In view of the foregoing,

| 1. | Would the Commission state whether it is possible to adopt at European level a label certifying the quality and freshness of bread? |
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1.

Would the Commission state whether it is possible to adopt at European level a label certifying the quality and freshness of bread?

| 2. | What are the Commission's views on this subject? |
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2.

What are the Commission's views on this subject?

| 3. | What, in the Commission's opinion, are the most effective measures that could be taken to help save traditional bakers' occupational category, in view of the fact that last year, for example, two thousand bakeries had to close in Germany and, in the south of France, bread is sold almost exclusively in supermarkets? |
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3.

What, in the Commission's opinion, are the most effective measures that could be taken to help save traditional bakers' occupational category, in view of the fact that last year, for example, two thousand bakeries had to close in Germany and, in the south of France, bread is sold almost exclusively in supermarkets?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(27 February 2004)

(27 February 2004)

The range of bakery products available in the EU is enormous, reflecting the multitude of regional and local customs and traditions.

Moreover, as the Honourable Member rightly states, these products are usually produced in whole or in part at their place of sale and are therefore not exported to other Member States to any significant extent.

This means that legislation setting harmonised, EU-level quality standards for bakery products would be difficult to achieve and would not meet a real need.

However, Member States, pursuant to the principle of subsidiarity, may decide to take measures of this kind at national level, within the rules laid down by Articles 28 to 30 of the EC Treaty.

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