Commission for Natural Resources
Žemės ūkio produktų kainų svyravimo reguliavimas
Opinion factsheet
Šioje svetainėje
- Žemės ūkio, jūrų ir vartotojų apsaugos politika
- Žemės ūkis
Opinion number:
CDR-3169-2016
Status:
Priimta
Impact
On 12 December 2016 the Council, led by the Slovak Presidency, adopted conclusions on strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain and tackling unfair trading practices. As requested by the CoR in its opinion on Regulating price volatility of agricultural products.
The Council acknowledges the importance of a well-functioning food supply chain and expresses concern about the vulnerability of farmers in this context, despite multiple efforts to improve their situation. The conclusions suggest solutions that the Commission and member states could put in place to guarantee, among others, that risks are shared more equally along the supply chain, contractualisation is enhanced, and market transparency and risk management improved.
The Council underlined the importance of a level-playing field for all those involved in the supply chain that could be achieved by a common European legislative framework.
The conclusions also call on the Commission to undertake an impact assessment with a view to proposing an EU legislative framework or other non-legislative measures to address unfair trading practices which respects the principle of subsidiarity and safeguards well-functioning national systems.
On its opinion on Regulating price volatility of agricultural products the CoR recommends adopting specific European rules against unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. On the 12 April 2018, The Commission adopted a Proposal for a Directive on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain. The proposal aims at reducing the occurrence of unfair commercial practices in the food chain by introducing a minimum common standard of protection across the EU that consists of a short list of specific prohibited practices. These include late payments for perishable food products, last minute order cancellations, unilateral or retroactive changes to contracts & forcing the supplier to pay for wasted product. The scope of the legislation has been limited to cover small & medium-sized suppliers in the food supply chain. The legislation will include enforcement provisions, whereby sanctions can be imposed by national authorities where infringements occur. On 13 July 2018 the Commission for agriculture and rural development of the European Parliament discussed the draft report by Paolo De Castro (S&D, IT) which is in line with the CoR opinion. The Austrian Presidency has listed it as one of its main priorities. Negotiations with Parliament are thus expected to start in autumn with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
On 14 June 2018 , the CoR received a "Golden Faironika" during the European Fair Milk Conference. The award is presented to politicians, farmers and civil society stakeholders to recognise outstanding efforts in promoting fair milk prices.
On the 1 October 2018 the Agriculture and Rural development committee at the European Parliament adopted is report on the Unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain which is in line with the CoR opinion. The Austrian Presidency has listed it as one of its main priorities. Negotiations with Parliament are thus expected to start in November with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
The Council acknowledges the importance of a well-functioning food supply chain and expresses concern about the vulnerability of farmers in this context, despite multiple efforts to improve their situation. The conclusions suggest solutions that the Commission and member states could put in place to guarantee, among others, that risks are shared more equally along the supply chain, contractualisation is enhanced, and market transparency and risk management improved.
The Council underlined the importance of a level-playing field for all those involved in the supply chain that could be achieved by a common European legislative framework.
The conclusions also call on the Commission to undertake an impact assessment with a view to proposing an EU legislative framework or other non-legislative measures to address unfair trading practices which respects the principle of subsidiarity and safeguards well-functioning national systems.
On its opinion on Regulating price volatility of agricultural products the CoR recommends adopting specific European rules against unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. On the 12 April 2018, The Commission adopted a Proposal for a Directive on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain. The proposal aims at reducing the occurrence of unfair commercial practices in the food chain by introducing a minimum common standard of protection across the EU that consists of a short list of specific prohibited practices. These include late payments for perishable food products, last minute order cancellations, unilateral or retroactive changes to contracts & forcing the supplier to pay for wasted product. The scope of the legislation has been limited to cover small & medium-sized suppliers in the food supply chain. The legislation will include enforcement provisions, whereby sanctions can be imposed by national authorities where infringements occur. On 13 July 2018 the Commission for agriculture and rural development of the European Parliament discussed the draft report by Paolo De Castro (S&D, IT) which is in line with the CoR opinion. The Austrian Presidency has listed it as one of its main priorities. Negotiations with Parliament are thus expected to start in autumn with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
On 14 June 2018 , the CoR received a "Golden Faironika" during the European Fair Milk Conference. The award is presented to politicians, farmers and civil society stakeholders to recognise outstanding efforts in promoting fair milk prices.
On the 1 October 2018 the Agriculture and Rural development committee at the European Parliament adopted is report on the Unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain which is in line with the CoR opinion. The Austrian Presidency has listed it as one of its main priorities. Negotiations with Parliament are thus expected to start in November with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
Essential points
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- notes that the action plan to counter this volatility adopted at the June 2011 G20 Summit has made little progress so far, and therefore calls for resumption of the negotiations on this subject under the German G20 presidency in 2017;
- believes that mechanisms to safeguard farmers' incomes need to be strengthened significantly to reduce the negative impact of the high volatility of prices of agricultural products and inputs, in order to make European agri-food sectors more competitive, maintain agriculture throughout the EU, encourage modernisation and innovation, and preserve vibrant rural communities;
- considers this objective to be achievable, provided that a package of measures is jointly implemented with a view to: (i) boosting the role of private agri-food operators in regulating agricultural markets, in order to compensate in part for the deregulation of the CAP; (ii) expanding and simplifying access to the range of risk management tools available to farmers; and (iii) as part of the next CAP reform and at local and regional level, promoting an increase in the added value of European farms by focusing on more environmentally friendly production methods, to reduce their vulnerability to fluctuations in world agricultural prices;
- in particular, recommends adopting specific European rules against unfair trading practices in the food supply chain;
- feels that the next reform of the CAP should encourage Member States to develop and implement a wide range of complementary risk management tools that are affordable for farmers.