The Polish Presidency of the EU Council is continuing its efforts to get the Member States to reach a compromise on the revision of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation. The aim of the European Commission’s proposal is to strengthen the position of farmers within the food supply chain.
There are still points of disagreement, as demonstrated by the discussions on 28 April within the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA).
A majority of the SCA delegations were in favour of a voluntary - rather than compulsory - mediation mechanism between farmers and their buyers (the Commission is proposing a compulsory system). In addition, the Member States generally want the extension of exemptions from competition law to apply to all producer organisations, without the ceiling of 33% of national production set out by the Commission.
The issue of mandatory written contracts also remains a sticking point. The Polish Presidency of the Council has proposed relaxations and exemptions, but consensus has not yet been reached. In an attempt to break the deadlock, the Polish Presidency is working on a new compromise text. However, it insists on the urgency of concluding the negotiations before the presentation of the new proposals for the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), expected this autumn. The aim is to obtain a negotiating mandate before the summer in order to open discussions with the European Parliament as soon as possible.
On Monday 5 May, the draft report by Céline Imart (EPP, French) was examined by Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture (see EUROPE 13615/6). “Contractualisation does not preclude flexibility”, she said, insisting that farmers’ remuneration should be taken into account when prices are calculated.
Maria Walsh (EPP, Irish) and Benoit Cassart (Renew Europe, Belgian) were critical of compulsory written contracts. Ms Imart replied that there was no freedom of contract when farmers were isolated and not on an equal footing with the other players in the supply chain. The rapporteur proposes that EU countries, at the request of certain sectors, should be able to derogate from compulsory contractualisation.
According to Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French), we must “avoid ideas that look good on paper but backfire in practice”, such as those that “destabilise recognised cooperatives and producer organisations”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)