Tag: bargaining power

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European Parliament votes on CAP simplification and strengthening farmers’ position in the food supply chain

The European Parliament voted today to determine its position on two amending pieces of legislation proposed by the Commission that can significantly modify rules for Member States and farmers in the remaining years of the current CAP. One is the Omnibus Simplification Regulation COM (2025) 236 amending the CAP Strategic Plans Regulation 2021/2115 and the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation 1308/2013, while the other is the proposal COM (2024) 577 to amend the CMO Regulation and some aspects of the Strategic Plans Regulation to strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain.

The context for these two proposals is, firstly, the general shift in Commission priorities to boost competitiveness, innovation and growth in the wake of the Draghi report. This report called for increased investment in innovation, a stronger Single Market through market integration, a greater focus on resilience and strategic autonomy for critical sectors like energy and raw materials, as well as a more supportive business environment by reducing regulatory burdens.… Read the rest

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Distribution services take more than half of spending on food at home in EU countries

Anger over the gap between farm and retail food prices has been one of the factors behind the farm protests earlier this year. Particularly when  prices at farm level move in the opposite direction to retail prices – more specifically, when retail food prices increase even when farm prices are falling so that margins are increasing – there is suspicion that more powerful players in the food chain are exploiting a period of price volatility for their own benefit. There is a strong belief among stakeholders that farmers’ remuneration can be improved if changes are made to the operation of the food value chain (all of the downstream actors up to and including consumers).

In March 2024, the Commission circulated a non-paper with proposals to address this issue. The Commission proposed a portfolio of immediate, short-term and longer-term measures. The measure of particular interest for this post is the proposal to create an Observatory of costs, margins and trading practices in the agri-food chain.… Read the rest

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Farmers' share of food chain value added

In response to a question recently in the European Parliament from Mairéad McGuiness MEP, one of the Parliament’s Vice Presidents and a member of COMAGRI, the Commission presented updated figures on the distribution of the value added in the food chain between the various actors. Mairéad McGuinness had asked if the Commission could provide details on the average share/percentage of the final price that farmers receive for their produce, relative to the share/percentage received by other actors in the food supply chain?

The Commission had previously presented figures for the distribution of value added in the food chain between the years 1995 and 2005 in a staff working paper accompanying its communication A better functioning food supply chain in Europe in 2009. This analysis showed that value added for agriculture in the food chain dropped from 31% in 1995 to 24% in 2005, mainly in favour of other food chain actors.… Read the rest