Activities of Maria Gabriela ZOANĂ related to 2018/0082(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the food supply chain (debate) RO
Amendments (18)
Amendment 61 #
Draft legislative resolution
Citation 4
Citation 4
— having regard to the reasoned opinions submitted, within the framework of Protocol No 2 on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, by the German Bundesrat, the Romanian Senate and the Swedish Parliament, asserting that, while the draft legislative act does not complyies with the principle of subsidiarity, the proportionality principle is respected only in part,
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) A minimum Union standard of protection against certain manifestly unfair trading practices should be introduced to reduce the occurrence of all such practices and to contribute to ensuring a fair standard of living for agricultural producers. It should benefit all agricultural producers or any natural or legal person that supplies food products, including producer organisations and associations of producer organisations, provided that all those persons meet the definition of micro, small and medium- sized enterprises set out in the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC12. Those micro, small or medium suppliers are particularly vulnerable to unfair trading practices and least able to weather them without negative effects on their economic viability. As the financial pressure on small and medium- sized enterprises caused by unfair trading practices often passes through the chain and reaches agricultural producers, rules on unfair trading practices shouldmust also protect small and medium-sized intermediary suppliers at the stages downstream of primary production. Protection of intermediary suppliers should also avoid unintended consequences (notably in terms of unduly raising prices) of trade diversion away from agricultural producers and their associations, who produce processed products, to non-protected suppliers. _________________ 12 OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36.
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The relevant rules shouldmust apply to business conduct by larger, that is to say non-small and medium-sized,all operators within the food supply chain as they are, irrespective of their size or organisational structure. If, on the cones who normally possess stronger relative bargaining power when trading with small and medium-sized supplierstrary, the rules apply to SMEs alone, this means that cooperatives or other types of association are excluded.
Amendment 110 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 10
Recital 10
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1
1. This Directive establishes a minimum list of prohibited unfair trading practices between buyers and suppliers in the food supply chain and lays down minimum rules concerning their enforcement and arrangements for the coordination between enforcement authorities.
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 2
Article 1 – paragraph 2
2. This Directive applies to certain unfair trading practices which occur in relation to the sales of food products by a supplier that is a small and medium-sized enterprise to a buyer that is not a small and medium-sized enterprise.
Amendment 222 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point –a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point –a (new)
(-a) “unfair trading practice” means any practice which grossly deviates from good commercial conduct, is contrary to good faith and fair practice and is unilaterally imposed by one trading partner upon another, occurring when an enterprise: - submits or attempts to subject a trading partner to obligations that create a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties before, during or after the performance of the contract; - obtains or attempts to obtain, under threat of total or partial termination of contractual relations, manifestly unreasonable conditions concerning prices, payment terms, terms of sale or services not covered by the purchase obligations and sales.
Amendment 379 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d a (new)
(da) a buyer of agricultural products or food products refuses to enter into a written contract with a supplier or refuses to communicate to a supplier the general conditions of sale or does not provide them with sufficiently detailed or unambiguous information on the contractual terms and conditions of the purchase of agricultural or food products;
Amendment 496 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
(da) a buyer obliges a supplier, in breach of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (anti-competitive price agreements), to reduce the price of food products already supplied if it finds that the producer has reduced the price for another distribution network, even if the reduction was effected at a later date; a buyer obliges a supplier to pay staff responsible for arranging sales areas or manipulating or selling products; a buyer obliges a supplier to assume the cost of logistics and various provisions under the following model: discount, monthly advance commission payments, discount for efficiency in acquisition, subsequent discount and new discount, which are transferred in the credit procedure (self-invoicing process) at the end of each month. a buyer requires a supplier to pay for the agreement to continue and keep the latter's products in its range; a buyer does not take into account the obligation to inform the supplier, thoroughly and unambiguously, about all the contractual provisions; a buyer makes the conclusion of a trade agreement dependent on payment of an annual fee and applies this retroactively; a supplier is obliged to supply the products only to the supplier's platforms.
Amendment 536 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. A supplierComplaints shall be address a complainted to the enforcement authority of the Member State in which the buyer suspected to have engaged in a prohibited trading practicesupplier is established.
Amendment 554 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The enforcement authority, which receives the complaint, shall forward it to the competent enforcement authority of the State in which the buyer suspected of engaging in a prohibited business practice is established.
Amendment 585 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Member States shall ensure that their enforcement authority is properly equippedies have the necessary resources, including sufficient budgetary and other resources, expertise, procedures and other arrangements as well as a sufficient number of competent personnel at their disposal for the proper performance of their duties and shall confer on ithem the following powers:
Amendment 600 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) to take a decision granting the supplier interim relief to put an end to the forbidden commercial practice, establishing an infringement of the prohibitions laid down in Article 3 and require the buyer to terminate the prohibited trading practice, and to annul the relevant clauses or illegal contracts. The authority may abstain from taking any such decision, if such decision would risk revealing the identity of a complainant or disclosing any other information in respect of which the complainant considers disclosure harmful to his interests, provided that the complainant has identified that information in accordance with Article 5(3);
Amendment 608 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) to impose a pecuniary fine on the author of the infringement. The fine shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive taking into account the nature, duration and gravity of the infringement; repeated infringements by the same operator shall be taken into account when determining the sanction to be applied;
Amendment 615 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point e
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point e
(e) to publish systematically its decisions relating to points (c) and (d);
Amendment 621 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point f
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point f
(f) to inform buyers and suppliers about its activities, by way of annual reports, which shall inter alia describe the number of complaints received and the investigations initiated and closed by it. For each investigation, the report shall contain a summary description of the matter and the outcome of the investigatDoes not affect the English version.)
Amendment 645 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 b (new)
Article 7 b (new)
Article 7b Coordinated enforcement tasks 1. The Network shall have the following tasks: (a) to discuss the application of this Directive on the basis of the annual reports referred to in Article 9(1); (b) to facilitate the exchange of information on relevant topics including on the results of investigations referred to in Article 6(1)(a) and new cases of unfair trading practices; (c) to coordinate and facilitate the exchange information and best practices concerning Member States national legislation and experience of enforcement in a coordinated and systematic way in order to improve the common understanding on which specific types of business practice should be considered UTPs and to better address potential cross-border UTPs; (d) to examine any question as regards the application of this Directive and adopt guidelines and recommendations in order to encourage consistent application, including by creating a common methodology for defining and setting penalties; (e) to promote and facilitate collaboration with other relevant networks and groups, notably the Supply Chain Initiative. 2. The Commission shall have the following tasks: (a) to establish and manage a website that provides for the possibility of information exchange between the enforcement authorities and the Commission, in particular in relation to the annual meetings; (b) to facilitate the organisation of common training programmes and exchanges of personnel between enforcement authorities, and where appropriate, with the enforcement authorities of third countries; (c) to organise the meetings of the Network referred to in Article 7a(2); (d) to facilitate technical or scientific expertise for the purpose of implementing enforcement administrative cooperation.
Amendment 660 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1