On 18 September 2020, the European social partners in the contract catering sector, EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope, had a meeting with OIB, the European Commission’s Office for Infrastructure and Logistics Brussels, to discuss the current call for tenders for the concession for catering services in the Commission’s canteen and cafeterias.
In the tendering process, the OIB followed the criteria set by EFFAT and FoodServiceEurope in the “Choosing best value in contracting food services – A guide for private and public client organisations”, launched in September 2019.
Belgian workers’ and trade union representatives, who had brought their concerns about the handling of catering contracts in the European institutions to the OIB’s attention at a meeting in June 2019, were satisfied with the new OIB approach, but they rang the alarm bell about the ongoing restructuring in the contract catering sector with massive redundancies looming.
