Sustainability agreements in agriculture: Horizontal and vertical agreements in agriculture for the benefit of nature, the environment, the climate, animal welfare and the earning capacity of farmers

Research output: Book/ReportReportProfessional

Abstract

Enhancing the sustainability of agriculture requires a better earning capacity for farmers. Besides government (i.e. taxpayer) support for sustainable production, consumers will have to buy the more expensive sustainable products and the extra price they pay will have to be passed on to the producer through the chain. This will require sustainability agreements between farmers and chain parties, complementary to existing initiatives and labels. This study examines the scope for lawful private sustainability agreements. Under the cartel prohibition in the EU Treaty, the possibilities are limited and insufficiently workable in practice. The CMO regulation offers several derogations to the cartel prohibition, which provide opportunities for farmers and farmers' associations to make sustainability agreements. In the 2021 CAP review, that space has been extended with an article (210a) added specifically for this purpose. This offers great opportunities. The agreements must be ambitious, exceed existing legal requirements and must be made by or with farmers (mutual agreements within the retail or processing industry without participation of farmers remain under the cartel prohibition). Another condition is that the agreements are indispensable to achieve the stated sustainability objective (no greenwashing). In addition, other derogations in the CMO regulation can be used, in particular for recognised producer organisations (Art. 152) and other farmers' associations (Art. 209) in combination with value distribution clauses (Art. 172a). Better prices for farmers for sustainable products mean higher costs for consumers for their food. However, making agriculture more sustainable also leads to societal benefits and financial space to compensate citizens who cannot afford higher food prices.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationWageningen
PublisherWageningen Environmental Research
Number of pages134
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Publication series

NameReport / Wageningen Environmental Research
No.3239
ISSN (Print)1566-7197

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