EU Commissioner: New regulation strengthens protection for farmers and smaller suppliers in the food chain

Speaking at the plenary session of the EU Parliament, the commissioner stressed that the regulation is about basic fairness, about ensuring that smaller market players are given the respect they deserve, are fairly compensated for their work and are not forced to bear disproportionate risks from more powerful buyers. However, she also pointed out that rules on paper alone are not enough. “A law is only as strong as its enforcement,” she said. In a single market where large quantities of agricultural products and food cross borders every day, protection cannot stop at national borders. Suppliers should also be able to rely on substantive safeguards when their customer is located in another Member State, he added. He highlighted that the new EU law on cross-border cooperation, which reinforces the implementation of the UTP Directive, serves precisely this purpose, as it strengthens cooperation and mutual assistance between national enforcement authorities, closing loopholes that could be exploited through cross-border structures. The Commissioner believes that it is particularly important that voluntary cooperation on stricter national rules – with appropriate safeguards and full discretion of the authorities – can go beyond requests for information to certain investigative measures, without the forced extra-territorial application of national law. Where the investigation concerns customers established outside the EU, the authority may request the designation of an EU contact point to facilitate cooperation without undue administrative burden, he added.

Local farmers are at a disadvantage in the procurement of multinational retail chains

In his speech, Csaba Dömötör, a Fidesz MEP, pointed out that multinational retail chains have a significant dominant position over farmers, and therefore the opportunities for producers to assert their interests must be strengthened. He drew attention to the increasingly widespread practice of multinational retail chains to tender their procurements to several member states. He said that in such cases, when controversial issues arise, farmers are at a significant disadvantage. “For example, they do not know the rules, procedures, or even the official language in the other country,” he said. He added that the current proposal aims to strengthen farmers’ opportunities to assert their interests in these situations. Csaba Dömötör said that they support this goal and will vote for the proposal, but – as he said – this alone is not enough. In his speech, he also touched on the European Commission’s trade policy plans. The representative said: it is heard that the commission would implement the EU-Mercosur agreement despite the fact that the European Parliament is taking the matter to court. According to the politician, this is being forced by the People’s Party coalition. He stressed: it is not acceptable if the European Parliament is bypassed, but it is absolutely unacceptable if the will of the farmers is not taken into account either. Csaba Dömötör asked the committee representative present to consult with President Ursula von der Leyen and abandon the plan. He warned: otherwise, even bigger farmer protests can be expected.

MTI