Unfair Trading Practices (Directive)
Minimum standards will protect micro, small and medium-sized suppliers against unfair trading practices in the food trade. For this purpose, the EU Commission has proposed a Directive. Until now there have been no EU-wide standard rules on dealing with unfair trading practices.
cepPolicyBrief
Overall, cep is critical of the proposal because the blanket protection for SMEs is in breach of the principle of proportionality. cep also criticises the fact that the proposed Directive lacks any provision permitting an overall assessment of the contractual relations in the individual case or allowing flexible examination of individual cases. In addition, the Directive should only apply where a supplier is dependent on a buyer. Only the envisaged ability to treat complaints confidentially is welcomed because it counteracts the risk that, due to fear, suppliers will refrain from filing complaints against unfair trading practices.
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