On Monday 13 January, the EU Member States’ delegations to the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) generally welcomed recent proposals to strengthen the role of farmers in the food supply chain (see EUROPE 13542/6).
On the proposal relating to the common market organisation (CMO), some Member States requested exceptions to the generalisation of written contracts (others felt that the decision should be taken by the Member States). Some delegations expressed doubts about the idea of compulsory mediation or about granting the same rights to non-recognised producer organisations. The European Commission noted that mediation is already provided for in the existing rules and is used in several Member States. Some countries felt that the recommendations of the High Level Group on Wine should be included in the scope of the CMO text (the European Commission felt that this was not envisioned at this stage).
Some Member States have deemed it necessary to increase available funding from the reserve in the event of an agricultural crisis. With regard to the text on unfair commercial practices, some countries felt that certain deadlines were too short or expressed concern about the administrative burden and potential costs arising from the proposal.
The Agriculture Council meeting on 27 January in Brussels will debate these two proposals. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)