Spain joins France in push for stronger EU legislation against unfair trading practices

In a bid to appease farmers’ discontent, Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas announced on Thursday (15 February) that he will call on the European Commission to update the EU’s directive on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain.

Speaking after a meeting with the main farmers’ organisations in Spain – Asaja, COAG and UPA – Planas said Spain’s food chain law was a “pioneer” and could serve as a model for updating EU legislation on unfair trading practices. 

“It’s probably a job for the next [EU] legislature,” Planas said, adding that he would also bring several proposals to simplify environmental requirements to the next meeting of EU agriculture ministers on 26 February. 

Farmers across Europe have been protesting in recent months, with imbalances in the contractual power of the main players (farmers, food industry, buyers and retailers) of the food chain being a common concern in several countries. 

Planas’ announcement follows a similar move by French President Emmanuel Macron, who on 5 February called for stronger EU legislation to ensure greater protection for farmers, who are seen as the economically weaker players in the food chain. 

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Stepping up national controls

While Planas said the Spanish food chain law was “working well”, he promised to strengthen its application. 

He announced the creation of a state “food information and control agency”, which will increase the capacity of a current ministry body responsible for monitoring the application of the law on the food chain. 

For such a body to become a reality, a law will have to be passed. 

The measure is part of a package of 18 measures and demands to be taken to the EU covering issues such as the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), reciprocity of production requirements with 3rd countries farmers, tax exemption on agricultural fuel, and an update of the Spanish system supporting insurance for farms.

Despite this, the agricultural organisation decided not to cancel their calendar of protests across the country, which escalated 10 days ago. Next Wednesday (21 February) farmers will gather in Madrid and the following day they plan to blockade the ports of Algeciras – the largest in Spain – and Valencia. 

The digital notebook

To alleviate farmers’ complaints about the administrative burden they face, Planas also agreed to scrap the requirement to implement the “digital notebook”. 

The system was a mandatory tool for farmers to record their activities, such as pesticide use and irrigation.

Now, the tool will be voluntary and its adoption “will be encouraged” by incentives yet to be determined.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro/Nathalie Weatherald]

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