On Tuesday 10 July, the members of the European Parliament’s committee on fisheries welcomed the amendments contained in the draft report by Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy) on unfair trading practice in the food supply chain (see EUROPE 12058).
Mairead McGuinness (EPP, Ireland) supported the amendments brought by the rapporteur, including those on extending the scope of the directive to suppliers in the food supply chain that are not SMEs. Other MEPs backed the argument defended by De Castro. They include Elsi Katainen (ALDE, Finland), Anthea McIntyre (ECR, UK), Marco Zullo (EFDD, Italy) and Marijana Petir (EPP, Croatia).
The European Commission representative said that some amendments went too far, such as those on the 60-day period for perishable foodstuffs and those aimed at extending the scope of the directive to other stakeholders and other products. “We must not go too far. I urge you to be cautious”, summed up the chairman of the agriculture committee, Czeslaw Adam Siekierski (EPP, Poland). The further Parliament goes, the more difficult it will be to seal an agreement with member states, the Commission pointed out.
De Castro is hoping for an agreement by the end of the current legislature, and even a compromise in trilogue by the end of the year. “Many of the things that my colleagues have said are in the amendments”, he commented. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)