Outcome of AGRI MEPs vote: A devastating strike to the Single Market for both consumers and farmers
Press release - Competitiveness & Single Market
15 July 2025
EuroCommerce is deeply concerned by the position adopted today by the European Parliament Agriculture Committee on cross-border enforcement of rules on unfair trading practices (UTPs).
The Parliament’s negotiating mandate enables Member States to enforce their own national rules on UTPs outside of national borders. This ignores the deal struck in 2019 that agreed common EU protection and allows national laws to ‘trump’ EU ones provided that these do not harm the single market. Today’s vote is a blow to the Single Market and legal certainty for businesses that we call on the Parliament to oppose it in the plenary vote.
Christel Delberghe, EuroCommerce Director General, said: “The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recently said the Single Market is our anchor of stability and resilience. Yet today the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee pushed for rules which make the Single Market even more difficult for buyers, restricting market access for farmers and processors and increasing prices for consumers.”
The 2019 Directive on UTPs set out minimum EU rules to protect farmers and SME suppliers in the agri-food chain. The proposal voted on today complements the Directive with procedural rules for national authorities to enforce those rules occurring in more than one EU country.
“Knowing that your perfectly legal contract might be exposed to enforcement action based on a law outside of what you chose increases the risks and deters you looking beyond your national borders for supplies,” Ms Delberghe explained further.
Allowing extraterritorial application of national rules not harmonised at EU level is a serious risk for legal certainty. Businesses could see their contracts – perfectly legal under national and EU law – being investigated by other authorities in other countries. This risk could push all agri-food chain operators like retailers and wholesalers to only buy nationally, making everybody lose out on the benefits of the EU Single Market.
Such renationalisation was criticised by Enrico Letta in his Report on the Single Market. At a time of trade wars and high uncertainty, it is a move that undermines rather than strengthens the Single Market. It also dramatically reinforces the impact of Territorial Supply Constraints imposed by large brands on retailers and wholesalers. These are identified as one of the terrible 10 barriers by the European Commission in its Single Market Strategy and cost consumers well beyond €14bn per year.
The Single Market is good for the entire food chain, including farmers, as they can sell their products in any of the countries in the EU and have access to a wider market. Retailers and wholesalers need and want that diversity of farmers to help them bring more choice and more affordable prices to consumers. This also strengthens the EU’s resilience amidst geopolitical uncertainty.
Christel Delberghe concluded: “We hope that MEPs will rethink their approach in the plenary vote in September and stand up for the Single Market for the benefit of farmers, suppliers and consumers.”