Marie, France

On the question how the EU is affecting her everyday life:
“Unfortunately, there are the negative effects which are coming to my mind when thinking about the EU. All rules (I, personally, work in gastronomy), especially hygiene regulations, helped bringing health safety. But this safety is mostly artificial. Those rules contributed that small producers do not have enough financial resources to adhere to the EU regulations. In the end, those rules and standards support the lobbies and big players in the food industry. So, what I observe in my everyday life is that we are moving into the wrong direction. But that does not mean that we should not do any of that. It indeed supports food industry lobbies. For small producers everything’s becoming more difficult. That’s a pity. Because, in the end, it’s the small producers which work “good” and with high quality. Even though, they might not be the best when it comes to hygiene regulations.”