A fair food chain for farmers and consumers

In December 2024, the European Commission proposed targeted amendments to the Regulation establishing a common market organisation of agricultural products (CMO) to strengthen farmers’ position in agri-food supply chains.

In contradiction with ‘Better Regulation’ standards, no impact assessment was carried out by the Commission. We are concerned that some of the impacts – notably on consumers and food affordability – may therefore have been overlooked.

While supporting the overall objective and some of the proposed changes – such as the strengthening of rules for contracts and defining terms such as ‘fair’ and ‘short supply chain’ – BEUC has reservations on amendments seeking to weaken the application of competition law in the agriculture sector. We fear that these will primarily benefit big players while potentially harming consumers through higher food prices. Targeted support to small and diversified farms through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – by making a better use of the public’s money – would be preferable in our view, alongside fighting market concentration at the processing and retail level.