The report is aimed at encouraging more transparency in the supply chain, a fairer, sounder system and helping to increase disposable farm income. It also targets boosting rural employment, as well as making a greater number of farms viable.

The publication is an Inception Impact Assessment (IIA). As outlined in the report to “improve the functioning of the food supply chain”.

The IIA will be complemented by a public consultation, on which the Commission is currently working, with the intention of publishing it in the coming weeks. The consultation will be open for 12 weeks.

Hogan’s view

Commissioner Phil Hogan welcomed the report.

“The publication of the inception impact assessment, and the forthcoming publication of the public consultation, are two concrete steps towards addressing the shortcomings in the food supply chain which impact adversely on the producer, who is the key element in the chain and without whom there would be no chain,” he said.

“The importance of the position of the farmer in the food chain was recognised in a Eurobarometer survey in October 2015, in which it was identified as one of the two highest priorities for citizens concerning the CAP,” he continued.

The food chain

The food supply chain in the EU comprises all actors and activities from primary agricultural production to food processing, distribution and retailing and consumption.

The food supply chain employs over 44 million people (including non full-time farmers) in the EU and accounts for around 7% of gross value added.

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