Request for more representation for fruit and vegetables within the Horizon 2020 programme, according to the size of the sector in the economy and their important societal and health benefits

On 23 January 2018,?A.R.E.F.L.H. ? the European Assembly of fruit, vegetable and horticulture regions and Freshfel Europe ? The European Fresh Produce Association ? organised, in coordination with the two European university and research centre networks for fruit and vegetable related research ? EUFRIN and EUVRIN ? a conference on the research priorities for the fruit and vegetable sector for the current Horizon 2020 funding programme and its successor, Framework Programme 9 (FP9).On 23 January 2018 in Brussels, the four organisations, who joined forces to organize for the second time a pan-European multi-stakeholder meeting to review the state of play of research and innovation for the fruit and vegetables sector. In 2014, the first conference served as the launch for a fruit and vegetables R&I Task Force, a first step towards the release of a Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA). This second event gathered close to 100 experts and aimed at further reinforcing the successful cooperation between those organisations and offering a unique platform for discussion among business representatives, researchers, and representatives of the European institutions. The meeting reviewed the current state of play and lessons learnt of the sector?s involvement in the Horizon 2020 funding programme, and the way forward towards the future funding programme FP9.From the discussion, both business representatives and researchers endorsed the multi-actor approach that is demanded in many Horizon 2020 calls. Involving different types of actors in a consortium not only ensures a more practical focus on the real problems on the ground, but also allows for a fruit and vegetable supply chain perspective. However, the trend towards broad, multi-product projects cannot highlight the sector?s specific problems: diversified products, (high) perishability, different areas of production with specific challenges (drought, frost, precipitation), and its added value in relation to health and sustainability. The sector laments that fruit and vegetables remain underrepresented within the Horizon 2020 programme, not reflecting the size of the sector in the economy and their important societal and health benefits.After the event, the Task Force renewed its intention to keep on working for a better representation of the sector in successful EU funding programmes. In the last four years, the sector has managed to showcase the existence of a well-functioning network and to increase its visibility. The way forward is to remind policy makers of the main relevant messages for the sector, which the Task Force will accomplish via a joint statement and a renewal of the SIRA in the light of the future discussion of FP9.