The European Parliament's rapporteur on measures to combat unfair commercial practices, Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy), hopes that the Parliament will vote in favour of starting negotiations on this issue on Thursday 25 October, which is a very important issue in his eyes (see EUROPE 12108).
On Wednesday 24 October in Strasbourg, several MEPs and organisations supported the rapporteur's initiative to encourage the Assembly to give the green light to the start of interinstitutional negotiations in the food supply chain on Thursday.
If they vote in favour, a Parliament/Council trilogue of negotiations could be held as early as 25 October.
Requests were received from the Greens/EFA group for a vote in plenary session earlier this week, as well as from several MEPs regarding the Agriculture Committee’s decision to open interinstitutional negotiations on the basis of the report voted on by the Commission.
If they vote against it, the negotiations would be significantly delayed, as the report would have to go back to the plenary session in November, which would allow new amendments to be tabled.
Paolo De Castro hopes that a political agreement can be reached with the Council before the May 2019 elections on the fight against unfair commercial practices, but time is running out. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)