Roadmap for EU action in the farming and agri-food sector
5.3.2025
Question for written answer E-000917/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Aurelijus Veryga (ECR)
There is currently no EU-level ban on the selling of agricultural products below their production costs. Dairy producers in Lithuania and other Member States often have to contend with an imbalance in bargaining power. This places farmers in a vulnerable position and forces them to sell milk at prices below their production costs. This asymmetry in pricing constitutes an unfair trading practice which prevents farmers from receiving a fair income.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that ‘no farmer should be forced to sell products below cost’. However, the Commission’s ambitious roadmap for the future of farming and the food sector in Europe does not include specific measures to ensure fair incomes for farmers.
Could the Commission answer the following questions:
- 1.Does the Commission intend to impose a total EU ban on the sale of agricultural products at prices below their production costs?
- 2.Does the Commission intend to include a ban on selling below cost in the revision of the Unfair Commercial Practices (UCP) Directive and to include payments for agricultural products below production costs in the unfair commercial practices blacklist?
- 3.What additional measures will the Commission take to ensure that power imbalances in the dairy supply chain are eliminated, farmers' bargaining positions are strengthened and a fairer and more sustainable dairy market for EU farmers is created?
Submitted: 5.3.2025