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Parliament approved new rules to strengthen the contractual position of farmers and help stabilise their incomes. Members of the European Parliament endorsed new rules to ensure that the final prices of food products better reflect the actual costs and have a direct impact on farmers’ incomes. Member states will be required to establish and publish online benchmarks for use in contractual arrangements.
The regulation also strengthens the role of producer organisations (POs) in market organisation and collective bargaining. Key provisions include allowing POs to negotiate directly with buyers and introducing rules that prevent buyers from bypassing POs to contact individual producers.
The new rules clarify the use of the terms “fair” and “equitable” for agricultural products and list the criteria for allowing such labelling for instance in cases when a product contributes to rural community development or the promotion of farmers’ organisations.
The text also introduces a definition of meat as “edible parts of animals” and includes a list of terms to be reserved for meat products only and that cannot be used for products that do not contain meat, such as lab-grown or cell-based products. These terms are: beef, veal, pork, poultry, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, ovine, goat, drumstick, tenderloin, sirloin, flank, loin, steak, ribs, shoulder, shank, chop, wing, breast, liver, thigh, brisket, ribeye, T-bone, rump and bacon. The aim is to enhance transparency in the internal market and enable consumers to make well-informed choices.
Finally, the legislation brings in new measures, such as mandatory written contracts, to support dairy producers’ incomes given the challenging conditions the sector is facing. These contracts would have opt outs for price indicators, and revision clauses.
The provisional agreement now needs to be approved by the Council before the new rules can enter into force.
June 16, 2026/ European Parliament/ European Union.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu
