A better functioning food supply chain in Europe.

The goals of the policy are (I) promote sustainable and market-based relationships between stakeholders in the food supply chain; (II) increase transparency along the chain to encourage competition and improve its resilience to price volatility; and (III) foster the integration and competitiveness of the European food supply chain across Member States.
The establishment of voluntary agricultural producer organisations will be encouraged to promote and facilitate the restructuring and consolidation of the agricultural sector. Actions will be taken to improve the competitiveness of the agro-food sector, especially of small- and medium-scale enterprises.
This policy lays down strategies to (I) to deliver high-quality food products at affordable prices to European consumers, (II) to ensure the safety and traceability of food products and (III) to ensure the supply of highly competitive, innovative and traditional products, both within and outside the EU. Actions will be taken to eliminate unfair contractual practices between business actors all along the food supply chain to obtain the full benefits from the single market. The sets of standard contracts will be prepared in collaboration with food supply chain stakeholders taking into account the diversity of the food supply chain. Awareness campaigns will be launched to inform stakeholders of their contractual rights and potentially illegal or unfair practices. The cooperation will be strengthened to better detect endemic problems specific to food markets and promptly coordinate future actions. A European food prices monitoring tool will be created to increase price transparency in downstream markets of the chain and to provide valuable information on price levels and developments all along the food supply chain and shows the price evolution by product and Member State. The price volatility will be prevented in agricultural commodity markets through the implementation of concrete policy initiatives. Appropriate transparency and reporting requirements will be extended to all agricultural commodity derivatives, with a view to ensuring the efficient functioning of those markets. Web-based and easily accessible food retail price comparison services will be provided by all Member States. On-going food safety standards harmonisation will be strengthened to further boost cross-border trade in food products in order to avoid problems arising from possible emergencies in the food chain originating in a Member State or in a third country. Food supply integration will be improved through development of a new framework for geographical indications, marketing standards and certification schemes in EU's agricultural product quality policy. Selected environmental standards and origin labelling schemes that may impede cross-border trade will be reviewed by the Commission. In order to better harmonise the implementation of Community food safety standards, the Commission will strengthen the cooperation with the Member States and the industry. An improved innovation framework will be developed to increase the competitiveness of the food supply chain, targeting actions on the numerous small- and medium-scale enterprises in the sector and on the performance of the European agro-food industry on world markets.