On Tuesday 3 June, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture debated the amendments tabled to the proposal to revise the rules of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) and confirmed the differences over rules on written contracts (see EUROPE 13615/6).
Céline Imart (EPP, French), who is responsible for this dossier, said she was committed to respecting the principle of contractual freedom, while stressing that in the absence of a balanced power dynamic, “this freedom can quickly be transformed into dependence, or even contractual submission”. She therefore defends the European Commission’s initial proposal to make written contracts compulsory.
659 amendments were tabled, revealing strong divisions, especially along national lines. MEPs from liberal countries (notably the Nordic countries) and Belgium want written contracts to remain optional. The Council of the EU, for its part, sees a place for compulsory written contracts, while opening the door to numerous derogations (see EUROPE 13643/15).
According to Ms Imart, other issues that will require a compromise include the status of non-recognised producer organisations, the role of associations of producer organisations, and certain provisions of the horizontal regulation, in particular those concerning the agricultural crisis reserve.
A consensus seems to be emerging on the definitions of short circuits and sustainability agreements. Ms Imart has also tabled an amendment to protect meat names from being misused by other products: “At a time when the synthetic meat industries are trying to penetrate the European market, we must protect our farmers at all costs”, she said. The CMO regulation already protects dairy names.
Cristina Maestre (S&D, Spanish) also defended the principle of written contracts. With regard to producer organisations, she warned: “We cannot accept that their role should be weakened”.
For Csaba Dömötör (PfE, Hungarian), “we need to go further than written contracts: Member States must be able to set deadlines for payments”.
According to Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French), contractualisation will not be enough. The most urgent thing, he believes, is to encourage farmers to join forces. He has tabled amendments to make it compulsory for Member States to fund Producer Organisations (POs), to penalise buyers who bypass POs and to ensure that a farmer can only be a member of one PO for each type of production.
A meeting for the political group coordinators is scheduled to take place in Strasbourg on 17 June, with others to follow in July. The aim is to vote on the report in the Agriculture Committee on 1 September, followed by a plenary vote in October, with the hope of reaching an agreement with the Council by the end of 2025.
Unfair trade practices. MEPs also debated the draft report by Stefano Bonaccini (S&D, Italian) and amendments to the proposal on unfair commercial practices. The rapporteur indicated that he was aiming for a vote in the Agriculture Committee on 15 July, followed by a vote in plenary between 8 and 11 September. The aim is to reach agreement with the Council by the end of 2025. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)