Activities of Michel DANTIN related to 2017/2191(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas, given farming’s specific natural and structural features, the EU legislator has ever since 1962 defended the existence of a special status for the agricultural sector in regard to application of competition law and whereas this ‘agricultural exception’ has become ever more relevant in the context of a market-oriented CAP and the increased globalisation of agricultural markets;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union sets price stability within the internal market as an objective;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)

Bb. whereas a clear and coherent regulatory environment in terms of adaptation of competition policy to the specific features of the agricultural market can help strengthen farmers’ position within the food supply chain by tackling power imbalances between operators, increasing market efficiency and ensuring legal certainty and a level playing field within the single market;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)

Bc. whereas the most recent CAP reform brought in new exemptions to competition law that sought to boost farmers’ position in the food supply chain by promoting cooperation among them as a means of improving their bargaining power, enabling them to capture a bigger share of the value added for their products and making them more competitive;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas, due to economic hazards in the farming sector, at times of crisis a market-oriented CAP needs to ~~provide support to farmers and~~ grant additional time-limited exemptions from competition rules;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas climate~~-related hazards have the effect of~~ and health hazards can cause serious market imbalances and further weaken~~ing~~ primary producers; whereas such events might necessitate a reconsideration of the competition rules where essential food supplies are at risk;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas in the Guidelines for State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas 2014 to 20201 a, the European Commission acknowledged the special nature of the agricultural sector and its social structure, and the scale of the new challenges, such as food security and environmental and climate issues, it is facing; whereas this policy needs therefore to contribute to strengthening the economic viability of farms and promoting food supply chain organisation, rural development and social inclusion; _________________ 1a European Union Guidelines for State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas 2014 to 2020 (OJ 1.7.2014, C-204/1)

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas the specific problems inherent to agriculture, such as fragmented production, upstream- downstream imbalances, price volatility, inelasticity of demand or even the perishable nature of the goods, require competition rules specially suited to this sector;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)

Db. whereas the Agricultural Markets Task Force drew up in November 2016 a whole series of proposals to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain, review contractual tools available to farmers, combat unfair practices and clarify the agricultural exemptions to competition law; whereas these recommendations were welcomed by the EU institutions and stakeholders in the food supply chain;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)

Db. whereas opening up the EU market to very competitive trade partners and major exporters of agricultural products constitutes a risk to sensitive farm sectors in the EU;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D c (new)

Dc. whereas the preliminary ruling pending before the Court of Justice in Case No C-671/15 (‘endives’) bears witness to the need for producers organisations and associations of producers organisations to have legal certainty when fulfilling their duties, and particularly so in a sector characterised by a highly fragmented supply-side facing a concentrated demand-side, and by difficulties in controlling supply and forecasting demand;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D c (new)

Dc. whereas the October 2016 Study on agricultural interbranch organisations in the EU drew attention to the important role of interbranch organisations in the transmission of economic and technical information to stakeholders in the production chain; whereas this study demonstrates that interbranch organisations enable better risk and profit sharing;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D d (new)

Dd. whereas the European Parliament made ambitious proposals during negotiations on the Regulation on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (2016/0282) which sought to combat unfair trade practices by establishing the right of the individual to a written contract and by guaranteeing dialogue and the sharing of added value among supply chain stakeholders, and to clarify the competition rules by revising the rules on economic producer organisations and the general and crisis exemptions to competition law;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Considers that the collective activities of producer organisations and their associations (including production planning and the negotiation of sales and of the terms of contracts) are necessary to achieve the CAP objectives as defined in Article 39 TFEU and should therefore be~~nefit, in principle, from a presumption of compatibility with Article 101 TFEU~~ exempted from the application of Article 101 TFEU; welcomes the fact that the Omnibus Regulation has clarified the role and powers of producer organisations pursuing economic activities in relation to competition law;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Believes that farmers in all sectors of production should be guaranteed the right to ~~collective bargaining~~joint negotiation, including the right to agree on ~~minimum~~common prices; believes that ~~farmers should fully engage with and be equipped with the means to exploit the potential of~~the EU and the Member States should continue to encourage farmers to fully engage with producer organisations, including producer cooperatives, their associations and inter- branch bodies, and should equip them with real means to exploit their potential;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Welcomes the fact, taking into account the encouraging implementation reviews1a and the way in which it is helping to strengthen the position of dairy farmers within the food supply chain, that the 2012 ‘Milk Package’ has been extended in time under the Omnibus Regulation; calls on the Commission, however, to carry out an impact assessment to determine whether the provisions on contractual negotiations in the milk and milk products sector should be extended in scope to cover other agricultural sectors; _________________ 1aReports on ‘Development of the dairy market situation and the operation of the “Milk Package” provisions’ (COM(2016)0724 and COM(2014)0354).

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Notes that the Omnibus Regulation has established an individual right to written contracts for farmers and, as regards the contractual framework existing in the sugar sector, whereby farmers, their organisations, and the first buyer downstream from the supply chain may negotiate contractual terms enabling value to be shared according to market trends affecting agricultural products or other commodities, has extended its scope to include other agricultural sectors, and considers that these provisions will help to calm relations between stakeholders, combat unfair trading practices, make farmers more responsive to market signals, make for better price reporting and transmission, and gear supply more readily to demand;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Notes that the Spanish olive oil sector has put forward an initiative seeking to stabilise market prices and supply consumers with reasonably priced food products by making use of joint storage facilities and that the Commission and the Spanish national competition authority are working together to determine whether this approach satisfies the conditions for the general exception to competition law under Article 209 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 (Single CMO Regulation); welcomes the fact that the Omnibus Regulation codifies good practice of this kind by establishing a procedure whereby a grouping of farmers may seek a non-binding opinion from the Commission in order to determine whether given collective action is compatible with the general exception to competition rules;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)

3d. Calls on the Commission, in the light of the recommendation of the Agricultural Markets Task Force, to redraft Article 209 of the CMO Regulation in order to specify the exception in such a way as to make the non-application of Article 101 TFEU – where this is provided for – enforceable and workable;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)

3e. Considers that the provisions of Article 222 of the CMO Regulation allowing temporary derogations from competition law will be quicker to trigger in response to severe market imbalances and that this a result of the changes made in the Omnibus Regulation:

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)

3f. Proposes that the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 enabling supply regulation measures to be adopted for cheeses with a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication (Article 150), for PDO or PGI ham (Article 172), or for wines (Article 167) be extended to cover quality- labelled products in order to increase the possibilities for matching supply with demand;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Notes that the individual ceiling for de minimis aid in the agricultural sector was doubled in 2013 (from EUR 7 500 to EUR 15 000 on a three-tax- year rolling basis) in order to cope with the upsurge in climate-driven, health, and economic crises; points out that the national de minimis ceiling was at that time adjusted only marginally (from 0.75% to 1% of the value of national agricultural production), thus reducing the latitude for Member States to assist farms in difficulties when confronted with crises occurring one after another in different sectors; calls, therefore, for the national de minimis ceiling to be raised to 1.5% of national agricultural production;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Notes that health, climate-driven, and economic crises in the agricultural sector are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, and that effective, coherent rules on de minimis aid should serve to improve the position for farmers; points out that in exceptional circumstances due to crises the individual ceiling could be temporarily raised to EUR 30 000;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)

5c. Points out that in 2013 the Commission decided that farm businesses in difficulty covered by a rescue plan could receive de minimis aid up to the EUR 10 000 ceiling applicable to companies in difficulties, and calls for that ceiling to be increased;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI