The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council on the proposal for targeted changes to legislation that regulates the common market organisation of agricultural products (CMO) and other related provisions of the EU’s agriculture policy. These changes will strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain and restore trust between actors in the agri-food supply chain. In particular, these measures will strengthen farmers’ position in negotiations with processors and other actors, ensuring that added value of the products is shared more fairly across the entire supply chain.
The political agreement includes the following improvements:
- Reinforcing the rules on contractualisation by requiring the use of written contracts for farmers, providing them with predictability and transparency;
- Reinforcing the position of producer organisations by increasing their capacity to organise themselves in the market, in particular, by simplifying the rules on recognition for associations of producer organisations (APOs);
- Setting out rules on the use of optional terms for “fair”, “equitable” and equivalent expressions, as well as for “short supply chains”;
- Introducing the possibility of additional financial support to Member States by the EU for measures undertaken in periods of severe market imbalances.
The agreement also includes the protection of terms related to meat cuts or species that will now only be used to designate meat products and will exclude, amongst others, products derived from cell or tissue culture. Preparations like burgers or sausages that can be meat-based or contain other products of plant origin will not be covered by this protection.
The provisional agreement retains the core of the proposal put forward by the Commission in December 2024 and is also in line with the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture of September 2024.
Next steps
The political agreement should now be confirmed by co-legislators as soon as possible.
The impact of the proposal will depend on the take-up of certain voluntary measures by farmers and buyers of agricultural products, as well as on the decisions of Member States to make use of the options and derogations provided.
Background
The agricultural sector, in particular farmers, faces a range of challenges. The destabilised distribution of value added along the food supply chain has increased the level of uncertainty within which farmers operate, fuelling mistrust. The pressure on agricultural incomes is expected to continue as farmers face increasing risks and rising input costs.
The Political Guidelines for the European Commission 2024-2029 emphasise the need for farmers to have a fair and sufficient income and the need to correct existing imbalances, strengthen farmers’ position and further protect them against unfair trading practices. This is why the Commission put forward a proposal to amend some of the rules on the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (CMO), to reinforce the position of farmers in the food supply chain.
