An exciting year with a lot of new faces
January 22, 2024
This is a column by Public Affairs manager Stefanie Miltenburg. The Public Affairs department represents the interests of Royal FloraHolland, its members and the floriculture sector in society, the media and politics.
In his column Looking ahead: 2024, CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde indicated that this year will be special in many ways. For our company and the cooperative, but certainly also politically. In the Netherlands, the formation is still in full swing. Occasionally we get a glimpse, but putting together a cabinet will still be a complex matter.
There is a new House of Representatives and that is where we are focusing, for a (renewed) introduction. Of the current 150 members of parliament, 80 are completely new. Many of them are from the emerged parties: BBB, PVV and NSC. Especially with the PVV, we have yet to discover how they think about major issues such as energy transition or plant health. Some things have already come out about international staff and migration. There the challenge becomes to keep emphasizing the importance of this labor potential while working to reduce it through automation and robotization.
Horticultural tour
There are also changes in line-ups in the well-known political parties. New spokespersons on agriculture and horticulture means that we have to re-establish ties everywhere. In early December, on behalf of a number of horticultural organizations, we offered all members of parliament a (House) plant. At home or at their workplace they can already enjoy the beauty our sector has to offer! There is also an invitation to the Agriculture Committee of the Lower House. These important members of parliament are very welcome for a real 'Horticultural tour', which we will organize together with our sector partners.
Things are also turbulent in Brussels. In June the European elections will take place and there, too, the outcome will determine what happens (and at what pace) with the major dossiers at hand. For us, it remains important to bring glasshouse horticulture - and ornamental horticulture in particular - to our attention. Greenhouse horticulture is very different from agriculture. That is well known in the Netherlands. But much less so in Brussels, and so we must prevent our sector from being lumped together with agriculture in the case of drastic measures, for example in the area of plant protection. That could turn out unfavorably for us.
Horticulture sector benefits from open borders
In addition to the production-oriented themes, which we will continue to monitor, this year we are also making renewed efforts to prevent and remove import and export barriers as much as possible. This is essential to maintaining a strong international marketplace. Royal FloraHolland's strength lies in combining products from the Netherlands with products from elsewhere in the world. That gives the supply that is unique in quantity and diversity. A Europe with open borders is needed to keep those flows flowing. Not everyone in Europe thinks the same about that. Southern member states in particular sometimes take a protectionist stance. That is a bad thing, because floriculture benefits from open borders. This is especially true for the Netherlands as an international hub.
To achieve more in this turbulent force field, we are working closely with our sector partners. On the production themes, this has traditionally been with Glastuinbouw Nederland. On the trade themes, cooperation is further intensified with the VGB and Union Fleurs, the European trade umbrella organization. In the strategic plan of the VGB 2023 - 2025 there is much overlap with our annual plan and therefore we are making agreements on how we can represent the interests of growers and traders even better in both The Hague and Brussels. Through cooperation we can strengthen each other. That is in everyone's interest.
Do you have questions or would you like more information on this topic? Then email publicaffairs@royalfloraholland.com.
In his column Looking ahead: 2024, CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde indicated that this year will be special in many ways. For our company and the cooperative, but certainly also politically. In the Netherlands, the formation is still in full swing. Occasionally we get a glimpse, but putting together a cabinet will still be a complex matter.
There is a new House of Representatives and that is where we are focusing, for a (renewed) introduction. Of the current 150 members of parliament, 80 are completely new. Many of them are from the emerged parties: BBB, PVV and NSC. Especially with the PVV, we have yet to discover how they think about major issues such as energy transition or plant health. Some things have already come out about international staff and migration. There the challenge becomes to keep emphasizing the importance of this labor potential while working to reduce it through automation and robotization.
Horticultural tour
There are also changes in line-ups in the well-known political parties. New spokespersons on agriculture and horticulture means that we have to re-establish ties everywhere. In early December, on behalf of a number of horticultural organizations, we offered all members of parliament a (House) plant. At home or at their workplace they can already enjoy the beauty our sector has to offer! There is also an invitation to the Agriculture Committee of the Lower House. These important members of parliament are very welcome for a real 'Horticultural tour', which we will organize together with our sector partners.
Things are also turbulent in Brussels. In June the European elections will take place and there, too, the outcome will determine what happens (and at what pace) with the major dossiers at hand. For us, it remains important to bring glasshouse horticulture - and ornamental horticulture in particular - to our attention. Greenhouse horticulture is very different from agriculture. That is well known in the Netherlands. But much less so in Brussels, and so we must prevent our sector from being lumped together with agriculture in the case of drastic measures, for example in the area of plant protection. That could turn out unfavorably for us.
Horticulture sector benefits from open borders
In addition to the production-oriented themes, which we will continue to monitor, this year we are also making renewed efforts to prevent and remove import and export barriers as much as possible. This is essential to maintaining a strong international marketplace. Royal FloraHolland's strength lies in combining products from the Netherlands with products from elsewhere in the world. That gives the supply that is unique in quantity and diversity. A Europe with open borders is needed to keep those flows flowing. Not everyone in Europe thinks the same about that. Southern member states in particular sometimes take a protectionist stance. That is a bad thing, because floriculture benefits from open borders. This is especially true for the Netherlands as an international hub.
To achieve more in this turbulent force field, we are working closely with our sector partners. On the production themes, this has traditionally been with Glastuinbouw Nederland. On the trade themes, cooperation is further intensified with the VGB and Union Fleurs, the European trade umbrella organization. In the strategic plan of the VGB 2023 - 2025 there is much overlap with our annual plan and therefore we are making agreements on how we can represent the interests of growers and traders even better in both The Hague and Brussels. Through cooperation we can strengthen each other. That is in everyone's interest.
Do you have questions or would you like more information on this topic? Then email publicaffairs@royalfloraholland.com.
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