EU-wide rules to protect farmers agreed

The European Parliament has extended the scope of the European Commission's proposal by ensuring that the legislation applies to suppliers in the food chain with a maximum annual turnover of €350 million.

Negotiators of the Parliament and Council today struck a deal on new rules on unfair trading practices.

For many years, the EPP Group has asked for EU wide-rules to protect farmers and SMEs in the food chain against powerful players, including powerful retailers. Parliament negotiators have worked very effectively with Austrian Minister Elisabeth Köstinger, former MEP and a colleague from the EPP family.

"In the EU, voluntary measures such as the Supply Chain Initiative are in place and while these initiatives are welcome and encourage behaviour change in the food chain, the need for overarching EU rules to ensure a level playing field for producers was recognised”, said Mairead McGuinness MEP.

McGuinness explained that today marks an important step in our work for a more sustainable food supply chain, which can only come about if fair play and practice is at its core and producers are protected against unfair practices. Further work may be needed based on a review of the effectiveness of this Directive.

Today is very much a stepping stone to having a more robust, fair and sustainable food supply chain, which respects and rewards the work of the primary producer and meets the demands of consumers.