On Thursday 12 February, the European Parliament approved (555 votes in favour, none against and 26 abstentions) new rules obliging national authorities to cooperate on the issue of unfair commercial practices.
The text, the result of an agreement with the Council of the EU, “will oblige the 27 Member States to collaborate, share information and launch investigations to stop and punish unfair practices”, said the rapporteur, Stefano Bonaccini (S&D, Italian). He welcomed closer cooperation between Member States, greater transparency throughout the supply chain (early warning system) and effective international protection “to prevent certain buyers or central purchasing bodies from circumventing the rules by simply moving their headquarters outside the European Union”.
“From now on, Member States will have to cooperate closely: information sharing, joint investigations and inspections, and tougher sanctions against abuses”, commented Céline Imart (EPP, French). She hailed this as a “decisive step forward” in guaranteeing European farmers a secure and stable income and “increasing their clout in the face of the agri-food and distribution giants”.
The European Commission has noted that voluntary cooperation on stricter national rules “can extend from information requests to certain investigatory measures, under strong safeguards and full discretion for authorities with no forced extraterritorial application of national law”.
The regulation (https://aeur.eu/f/kp1 ) must now be adopted by the EU Council (see EUROPE 13750/17). It will apply 18 months after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)