Policy Dialogue – Healthy Diets by Design: EU Rules and Investments that Protect Health

• Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet Director and member of the Interest Group Secretariat.
• MEP Manuela Ripa and MEP Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Co-Hosts/Co-Chairs, Interest Group – Why this matters now: making healthy diets affordable and protecting Europeans from unhealthy food environments; what Parliament can do as co-legislator and budgetary authority.
• Dorota Sienkiewicz, EuroHealthNet EU liaison expert – What the next EU long-term budget and EU’s agriculture policy must deliver to make healthy diets the easy, affordable choice.

• Anant Jani, Heidelberg/Oxford and FEAST Coordinator – What FEAST brings to the EU policy agenda: evidence on which policy, investment and regulatory choices can shift diets fairly and effectively.
• Fabrice DeClerck, Chief Science Officer, EAT Foundation and FEAST Partner – The Planetary Health Diet in the 2025 EAT-Lancet Report: a strategic reference point for EU investment, food policy and healthier food environments.

Moderated by Fabrice DeClerck, EAT

Aim: To show how EU frameworks, funding, evidence and public health guidance can drive national and local action for healthier food environments and more affordable, accessible and fair diets — especially for children and other groups facing the greatest inequalities.

• Representative of the European Commission, DG AGRI – TBC
  EU funding levers for national and local action on healthier, more affordable and sustainable diets.

• Representative of the European Parliament – TBC
  Embedding healthier food environments in the EU cardiovascular health strategy.

• Representative of WHO Europe
  Guidance for national action on healthier food environments: legal options, fiscal tools and equity-sharp cross-country learning.

• Stefanie Vandevijvere, Sciensano and FEAST Partner
  Building the evidence base for smarter domestic public health policy and investment choices on food systems, food environments and consumption.

• Camille Perrin, EU Food Policy Coalition
  Citizens’ voices in food policy: coherent action, fair food environments and investment that matches ambition and urgency.

Moderated by Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet

• Discussion with MEPs, representatives of the European Commission and Permanent Representations, and other food system actors in the room.
• Aim: To identify concrete, coordinated next steps across EU, national and local levels to turn shared priorities on healthier food environments into system-wide action.

• MEP Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis and MEP Manuela Ripa - Political takeaways.
• Anant Jani, Heidelberg/Oxford and FEAST Coordinator - How outcomes will be taken forward.
• Caroline Costongs, EuroHealthNet Director and member of the Interest Group Secretariat - Closing remarks.