As a follow-up to the study: "Competitiveness of the European Food Industry. An economic and legal assessment"1 and the conference: "Promoting the leadership of the Agro-Food Industry" held in November 2007, the High Level Group (HLG) on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry was set up by Commission Decision of 28 April 2008 (2008/359/EC) and launched officially on the 12 June 2008 by Vice-President Verheugen.

The scope of the High Level Group, and consequently of the current Report is the whole agro-food industry2. The formal objective of the exercise was to identify the factors, future challenges and trends that can influence the competitive position of the European Agro-Food Industry as well as to formulate recommendations for actions over the short, medium and long term in public policy and the regulatory framework which would enhance the sustainable development and competitive position of the sector.

In this respect, the following areas of interest were addressed during the HLG discussions:
· Agricultural and Environmental Policy
· The Internal Market for Food
· The Operation of the Food Chain
· Research and Innovation
· Trade and Exports

(from the introduction to the final report).