Agricultural Policy

Potatoes are an important component of the agriculture sector for the different goals of the European Commission in regard to jobs and growth, sustainability and health. Europatat is playing an active role at the EU agricultural discussions in order to assure the best position of the potato traders regarding dossiers as the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Organic regulation or the Unfair Trading Practices new legislation.

 

The future of the CAP

On 1 June 2018, the European Commission published the three legislative proposals for the next CAP 2021-2027. Based on nine broad objectives, these proposals included a shift from compliance and rules towards results and performance. The Commission’s proposals also included clear and higher ambitions on environmental and climate action. Following the legislative procedure of the EU, the European Council and the European Parliament are also currently discussing their positions in relation to the Commission’s proposal. The 2019 European elections will have an impact on this procedure, as the new MEPs will decide wether to respect the position adopted before the elections or review it.

 

Organic farming: new EU rules adopted

On 22 May 2018, the Council adopted new EU rules on organic production and the labelling of organic products. Since then and before the entry into force of this new legislation in January 2021, the process of adoption of the implementing and delegated acts requires a serious amount of work with a strict calendar. All acts will have to be adopted at the latest 6 months before 2021 in order to allow operators to adopt to the new rules.

 

Fighting UTPs in the food supply chain

In April 2018, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive on Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain with the objective to improve the position of farmers in the food supply chain. After intense negotiations between the EU institutions and the different parts of the food supply chain, an agreement was reached in December 2018. Following its adoption and publication in the EU Official Journal, the Directive on unfair trading practices (UTPs) in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain entered into force on 30 April 2019.

 

Read more about our main actions on these topics in our 2019-2019 Activity Report.

 

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