The Dutch sugar industry has launched a publicity offensive against Brussels’ plans to reform the European sugar market. With the campaign slogan ‘Keep Sugar in the Netherlands’, it will go all out in the final phase of the proposed reform of the European sugar market organisation. The publicity campaign was launched at a special meeting with politicians and administrators from Europe, The Hague and the provinces, representatives of the sugar industry and the press on 30 September.

An enormous banner was placed on Suiker Unie’s sugar factory in Groningen and the campaign slogan was presented to the city’s mayor, Jacq Wallage. ‘In the months ahead we shall be doing everything we can to persuade the politicians in The Hague and Brussels to reconsider their rose-tinted and high-risk plans,’ declared Jos van Campen, chairman of the Platform for the Future of the Sugar Market, the pressure group for the reform of the Dutch sugar market. 

The mayor of Groningen, Jacq Wallage, gave the symbolic green light to the publicity campaign during the meeting at Suiker Unie’s sugar factory in Groningen.  He was presented with a large sign bearing the slogan by Aike Maarsingh, the farmers’ leader. At the same time, huge stickers bearing the slogan were attached to hundreds of trucks carrying sugar beet throughout the Netherlands. A pamphlet and campaign stickers were also sent to all decision-makers and stakeholders.

Groningen is the ‘sugar capital’ of Europe on account of the two extremely efficient sugar factories in the city. Mr Wallage pointed out that more than 400 people work in the sugar factories and hundreds of others are employed during the sugar campaign. Indirectly, the sugar industry is a source of income for at least 9,000 people and/or families working on farms or in the production chain.

In June this year, the Dutch sugar industry published a study conducted by Research voor Beleid. It forecasts that if the European Commission’s reforms were implemented in their current form, 11,500 jobs in the Dutch sugar industry and related sectors would be at risk. Despite an all-party motion in parliament, the Dutch government agrees in broad lines with Brussels’ proposals.

The Dutch sugar industry will therefore be conducting an intensive publicity campaign in the coming months. The meeting at the Groningen factory was the first in a series of meetings with administrators and politicians in the most important regions for the sugar industry. Jos van Campen declared: ‘There’s still a lot more to come. There will be more actions in The Hague and Brussels. Both our government and EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel still don’t fully understand what their rose-coloured and high-risk plans mean. We will be putting our message across forcefully in the coming months.’

Measured and responsible sugar market organisation
The Dutch sugar industry is campaigning for an EU sugar market that guarantees the continuity of the industry and creates more opportunities to import sugar into the EU from the least developed countries. The industry has joined forces and drawn up its own reform proposals for a measured and responsible sugar market.

Platform for the Future of the Sugar Industry
The Platform for the Future of the Sugar Industry was set up by Dutch sugar producers to contribute to the reform of the common market organisation for sugar in Europe. The Platform provides information and represents stakeholders. It also acts as an intermediary, gives presentations, publishes studies and maintains contacts with the media. More information on the Platform can be found at its website in Dutch: www.platformsuiker.nl.