As the Commission published its EU Stockpiling Strategy, EuroCommerce – the European retail and wholesale association – asks to be part of the dialogue on planning and preparedness.
Christel Delberghe, EuroCommerce Director General, welcoming the EU’s shift from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience said: “People turn to retail and wholesale for food, medicine, and other daily essentials. If our operations fail, the impact is immediate.”
Retailers and wholesalers connect supply chains with EU customers and ensuring availability in every city, town or village. As the COVID-19 pandemic and recent blackouts in Spain and Portugal have clearly demonstrated, retail and wholesale of all sizes play an important role in crisis response.
Understanding critical needs and the costs of stockpiling as well as how to best communicate with customers will come from learning from front runners and ensuring the free movement of goods during crises. The EU added value is to bring together that expertise and define the chain of command for real-time coordination between authorities.
“We stand ready to work with the EU to build a resilient Europe, but, based on past and front runner’s experience, retail and wholesale needs to be part of that discussion to make this strategy work,” concluded Ms Delberghe.
