EU law against unfair trading coming next spring, Commissioner Hogan says. MEPs urge him to move fast 

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Draft EU law to combat unfair trading in the food chain could be tabled in the first half of 2018, Commissioner Hogan told Agriculture Committee Tuesday. MEPs urged him to proceed quickly.

The EU Commission would soon launch a roughly twelve weeks long impact assessment on the future EU rules to tackle unfair trading practices (UTPs) in the food supply chain, which would be followed by at least twelve weeks long public consultation, Commissioner Phil Hogan told MEPs during the Agriculture Committee meeting he attended together with Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. The draft EU-wide anti-UTPs rules could thus be tabled in the first half of 2018, he added.

 

MEPs urged Commissioner Hogan to proceed quickly and ensure there would be no delays in tabling a draft law the European Parliament has long been calling for.

 

They also asked Commissioners Hogan and Vestager to pay more attention to excessive concentration in some parts of the supply chain, to come on board for strengthening farmers’ bargaining power via the so-called Omnibus proposal and to make sure competition rules work for farmers too.

 

You can re-watch the full debate via the VOD (starting at 16:33).

 

Background

 

On Monday Agriculture MEPs and three EU farm ministers urged the Commission to quickly table a draft EU law to combat unfair trading practices. The call for an EU anti-UTPs law appears also in the committee’s position on the Omnibus proposal.

 

Other Omnibus amendments approved by the Agriculture MEPs seek to, inter alia, strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain and provide them with better tools to face market and production risks.

 

The European Parliament adopted several reports in 2016 with concrete recommendations to do away with unfair trading practices and help farmers deal with volatile prices, market shocks and production risks. The Agriculture committee also adopted an opinion in the same year calling for an alignment of the EU’s competition policy with the needs of its agriculture sector.

 

 

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

In the chair: Czesław Adam Siekierski (EPP, PL)

Disclaimer: this is an informal message intended to help journalists covering the work of the European Parliament. It is neither an official press release nor a comprehensive record of proceedings.