Three questions with Dr. Sven Spork, giving an outlook on the 2024 election year

Obviously, the regulatory burden continued to be clearly felt in 2023. Our public affairs unit has to deal with more than 200 regulatory initiatives at national and European level, which impact our business in various ways. As a retail and tourism group, we are naturally affected by a wide range of issues. I am not talking about bashing regulation in general; a strong regulatory framework and the much quoted “level playing field” are undoubtedly necessary. Nevertheless, the scale of the impact on our business sometimes surprises us, and greater proportionality in this respect would be desirable. The burden is clearly felt by all our professional colleagues responsible for implementing current regulations, and there is no end in sight to the increasing regulatory requirements.

The reason why my overall assessment of 2023 is still positive is because we have taken the initiative to set up the Competence Center Agriculture, with the aim of involving our company more closely in the crucial issue of the future of agriculture. By working together with experts from production, commerce, science, and trade, we aim to actively shape and complement our commitment at both political and cross-industry level with what is feasible for our Group.

First and foremost, the regulatory initiatives that are currently being discussed in Brussels before the campaign for the elections to the European Parliament gets underway will be important. These include the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), discussions on green claims and the issue of late payments. National implementation of EU legislation will also be of interest. The directive on due diligence in the supply chain will be of particular importance to us, especially as the corresponding German law is relatively new, and further adjustments are foreseeable. Aside from the obvious issues, 2024 will undoubtedly bring many unexpected developments, otherwise it would be an unusual year.

There are currently several topics in the European political discourse that are of importance to us, and that will certainly be also dealt with in the next legislative period. Particularly regarding the challenges of climate protection and other sustainability goals, to which we are explicitly committed and which we want to play a leading role, we would like to see the continuation of a constructive exchange with the business community to ensure the feasibility of the proposed solutions. As a company, together with our network of associations, we will strive to effectively advocate and represent our positions.
The upcoming, however, elections will be decisive beyond specific regulatory issues. Recently, there have been tendencies towards populist and sometimes openly right-wing extremist positions in various European countries. I hope that the European elections will not reflect this to the extent currently expected. A key factor is a high voter turnout, and that is what I wish for – with regard to the European elections, as well as for the upcoming state and local elections in Germany, and the presidential elections in the United States.