EU trilogue agreement preserves market orientation, says EDA

While the trilogue is still ongoing with meat denominations and veggie burgers on the menu, the European Dairy Association (EDA) welcomes the already reached political agreement in the trilogue negotiations on articles 148/168 of the targeted revision of the Single Common Market Organisation (Regulation 1308/2013). 

Throughout the negotiations, EDA emphasised the importance of safeguarding market orientation, contractual freedom and subsidiarity in the dairy sector.

For all we hear, the final compromise safeguards these core principles. In particular, the opt-out possibility for Member States regarding specific contractual clauses ensures that the diversity of dairy market structures across the union is respected. The derogation for cooperatives is another commonsense compromise. 

EDA recognises the role of MEP Daniel Buda (EPP, RO) in steering the final trilogue discussions towards a balanced outcome, as well as the substantive contributions of shadow rapporteurs Barry Cowen (Renew) and Bert-Jan Ruissen (ECR) and other MEPs like Norbert Lins (EPP, DE) and Stefan Köhler (EPP, DE), in shaping this compromise in an extremely politicised dossier.

Alexander Anton, secretary general of EDA, says, “While the European Commission’s intention to react swiftly to the farmers’ protests was understandable, the resulting legislative process proved rather sub-optimal – with no prior impact assessment and a parliamentary drafting phase that relied on a rather selective range of external stakeholders, which created avoidable tensions within the agri-food sector. This dossier is therefore not a highlight of EU governance.

“Despite these shortcomings in the process, the final trilogue outcome preserves the essential minimum standards of market orientation and subsidiarity requested by the whole dairy sector, the processing industry and the vast majority of dairy farmers. The dairy sector has always operated on the basis of written contracts – whether through private agreements or cooperative statutes. The key issue was preserving flexibility to reflect different national models that have proven to work.”

EDA remains committed to constructive engagement with EU institutions to ensure that future agricultural legislation is evidence-based, proportionate and fully aligned with the realities of the dairy value chain.