European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan has said he intends to introduce legislation to ensure that farmers get a fair share of the retail price of the food they produce and to protect them from unfair practices by large retailers.
He said the current high level forum on unfair trading practices at European Union level is not working and voluntary codes of conduct for retailers do not work.
Mr Hogan said in this regard the EU could learn a lot from the UK and Spain, where legislation was introduced to impose a fine on retailers of 1% of turnover in cases where unfair trading practices have been found.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, he said his officials are examining a lot of economic data in relation to the food price chain and that he expected to be in a position to make changes on this matter before the end of this year.
Meanwhile, MEP Mairead McGuinness said getting any legislative changes in relation to the food price chain through the EU parliament will be difficult because some countries have a very different attitude to the introduction of rules that could cause consumers to pay more for their food.
