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Ireland will seek hundreds of millions of euros in aid from Brussels if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal, the agriculture minister was quoted Thursday (3 January) as saying. Read more

Following the failure to reach an agreement in the framework of the fifth trialogue of the EP, the Commission and the Council on the draft of the directive on unfair commercial practices on 12/12/2018, the Austrian Presidency (AT PRES) drafted a new compromising text which was discussed on 19/12/2018 as an extraordinary act of the sixth trialogue. During the trialogue on 12/12/2018, AT PRES requested the directive to be applied to suppliers with a turnover of less than € 250 million, but Parliament called for protection for all suppliers with a turnover of up to € 500 million (the Commission proposed € 50 million). The new AT PRES proposal, which was held on 19/12/2018, set a turnover threshold of € 300 million, during the negotiations of the institutions' representatives, the threshold was increased and agreed to € 350 million. The company's global annual turnover will be assessed, companies will be judged within five groups - up to € 2 million in turnover, companies with a turnover between € 2 million and € 10 million, companies with a turnover between € 10 million and € 50 million, companies with a turnover of between 50 million and € 150 million, and companies with turnover between € 150 million and € 350 million turnover. According to Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, the agreement will protect 97% of companies and 25% of production.

The agreed wording of the Directive does not give the national authorities the obligation to impose fines in the case of proven unfair commercial practices (UCPs), but Member States are entitled to impose sanctions if they deem it appropriate. The directive directly prohibits 10 UCPs (so-called "black" UCPs), including, for example, waiting times for perishable goods longer than 30 days; cancellation of orders for perishable goods at the last minute; unilateral changes to the terms of the contract; requiring fees not related to the sale of agricultural or food products; rejection of written contracts; misuse of confidential information; collecting fees from the supplier for the waste of agricultural and food products; payments for products that do not subject to rapid destruction over a period longer than 60 days; commercial retaliation against the supplier if he has lodged a complaint with the customer; or the collection of charges from the supplier for customer complaints. In addition to the black UCP, the directive prohibits six so-called "gray" UCPs that are banned under the directive but for which vendors can explicitly agree with the purchaser to allow them to do business within their business relationship. This is the return of unsold goods to suppliers; collection of fees from the supplier for storing or displaying products; collection of fees from the supplier for the promotion of products in the context of discount events; or charging for marketing campaigns.

The resulting agreement will now be approved by the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) and subsequently formally adopted by the Council and the European Parliament.

More information is available here.

High Representatives of the Member States of the European Union discussed at the European Council summit on 13-14/12/2018 the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) beyond 2020 with regard to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020. German Chancellor Angela Merkel supported the focus on the means of reducing and simplifying bureaucracy within the CAP, while she opposed to the European Commission's proposal to spur direct payments. French President Emmanuel Macron supported the changes and development of traditional programs under certain conditions. Representatives of Italy said they did not see the reason for external convergence of direct payments under the future CAP and MFF, while Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for full external convergence by 2027. The MFF agreement should be reached no later than October 2019.

Poland plans to ban pig meat imports from Lithuania due to the outbreak of African swine fever in Lithuania. Most of the territory of Lithuania falls in zone 2 (here), therefore import restrictions are possible. Poland, on 17-18/12/2018, presented the recent developments in the pig meat market within the Council of Agriculture Ministers. Purchase prices of PL meat decreased by 20%, but also increased production costs. Therefore, PL has asked the Commission to take exceptional measures in the form of private storage and financial support for pig meat producers to help to stabilize the pig meat market in the EU. The Commission rejected PL's application in view of the fact that the latest information suggests a possible increase in the buying-in prices of pig meat. More information is available here.

The Austrian Presidency supported the revision of the European Commission's proposal to dual quality of products this week (within the so called Review clause), which should deeply examine and evaluate the possible impact of the implementation of the new rules that the Commission proposed in April 2018. The implementation review could delay the possible adoption of new rules. The representatives of the Czech and Slovak Republics spoke against the intention of the Austrian Presidency.