(1)The agricultural sector, in particular farmers, who ensure food security, face a range of challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic, growing instability in world trade, increasingly extreme weather events and Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine have led to an unprecedented increase of energy-related agricultural input costs and a prolonged period of high inflation, affecting farmers’ costs and food prices. In parallel, farmers continue to undertake efforts to make their production more environmentally sustainable, and face a significant regulatory burden due to overregulation. Many consumers, dealing with an increased cost of living, have also directed their consumption patterns towards less expensive food products. All the above factors have further destabilised the distribution of value added along the food supply chain and has increased the degree of uncertainty in which farmers, notably small and medium-sized farms, operate, fuelling protests and mistrust. It is thus appropriate to adopt measures to tackle those challenges and to restore fairness and the trust of the actors in the food supply chain, as well as protecting farmers’ incomes and increasing young people’s confidence in the farming profession.

(3)In the interest of increased trust and fairness along the food supply chain, the terms ‘fair’, ‘equitable’ or equivalent terms, should be used only with the prior and informed consent of the farmer to designate commercial modalities that ensure stability and transparency in commercial relations between farmers and purchasers and pricing considered equitable by participating farmers, and that support and contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including in a manner that is consistent with Annex I of Directive (EU) 2024/1760 of the European Parliament and of the Council5. It is essential therefore to guarantee transparent pricing, and that value is distributed proportionally along the food chain and reflects the efforts made, and risks assumed, by each party, particularly farmers, who represent the most vulnerable link in that chain.

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5 Directive (EU) 2024/1760 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 on corporate sustainability due diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and Regulation (EU) 2023/2859, (OJ L, 2024/1760, 5.7.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1760/oj).

(4)The term ‘short supply chain’ should be used with the prior consent of the farmer and only to designate commercial modalities where a direct connection or a limited number of intermediaries exists between the farmer, cooperatives or producer organisation and consumers that allows to exchange on the production process and the product, including by means of distance communication and/or via an intermediary who ensures such exchange at the moment of sale. Alternatively, this term may also be used where a close connection exists between farmers and consumers, including in the form of online sales, or where geographic proximity exists between them, including in cross-border contexts. Geographic proximity should be measured in terms of reduced transport distance or time. This will incentivise consumers to pay prices that fairly remunerate farmers for what they produce, strengthen and contribute to the development of rural areas, improve transparency regarding the origin and production methods of the products. It should apply to products produced in, and paced on, the single market. This tool will contribute to increased transparency and economic justice and to the revitalisation of rural areas, without prejudice to the functioning of the single market.

(5)In light of market conditions, evolving consumer expectations, advances both in marketing standards and in relevant international standards, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the use of the optional terms designating commercial modalities related to the fair allocation of value added to farmers and the creation and maintenance of short supply chains. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making5a. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

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(7)While Member States may retain or introduce national provisions stipulating supplementary requirements for the use of optional terms for commercial modalities, those provisions should not hinder, limit, or obstruct the use of these terms for products legally produced or marketed in another Member State or add regulatory burden for farmers, especially small and medium-sized farms.

(8)The use of written contracts plays an important role in the accountability of operators, raising awareness about the importance of market signals, adapting supply to demand, improving price transmission within the supply chain, enhancing transparency and preventing and addressing unfair trading practices and respecting pricing that ensures fair remuneration for farmers. At the same time, the use of written contracts is crucial for the prevention of frequent abusive trading practices such as late payments, unilateral cancellation of orders and the retroactive amendment of terms of contract. Those practices particularly affect small producers, who do not have the legal means to defend themselves. The rules on contractual relations in the milk and milk products sector should therefore be extended to cover products other than raw milk, while ensuring alignment with the rules on contractual relations applicable to other agricultural sectors. Implementing these measures will therefore create a framework for agricultural producers, providing them with the necessary protection to capitalise upon and plan their production and, hence contributing to the development of the local economy.

(9)In order to increase flexibility for Member States and simplify the procedure for the recognition of producer organisations, thereby reducing transaction costs and improving efficiency, the rules on producer organisations should allow for their recognition following a single request covering multiple sectors and products. Moreover, organic product producers are able to use the existing possibility for the establishment and recognition of producer organisations to enhance their collaboration. The criteria for the recognition of producer organisations and their statutes should also provide that producer organisations are established at the initiative of farmers or, in the case of fruit and vegetables, of producers, and are controlled in accordance with rules that enable farmer members to scrutinise democratically their organisation and decisions.

(10)To promote further sustainable development, which is a core principle of the Treaty and a priority objective for the policies of the Union, and to ensure transparency, stability and fairness in commercial relations between farmers and purchasers throughout the supply chain, Member States should be able to recognise producer organisations that pursue specific aims with optional terms for commercial modalities, such as ‘fair’, ‘equitable’ or equivalent terms, and ‘short supply chain’. In addition, promoting the use of such terms could help educate consumers on the impact of their consumption choices on social fairness and economic sustainability in the agri-food sector.

(11)To ensure a fair standard of living for farmers, enhance their bargaining position vis-à-vis processors and other actors in the supply chain and provide for a fairer distribution of added value along the supply chain, the possibility of negotiating contract terms on behalf of their members should be extended to non-recognised producer organisations, including cooperatives, in accordance with national law, for some or all of their production provided that these organisations have already lodged an application for recognition with a Member State within a maximum period of five years after submitting the application for recognition. To ensure equal treatment with members of recognised producer organisations, this possibility should be subject to appropriate limits. In particular, non-recognised producer organisations benefiting from that possibility should comply with the recognition criteria set at Union level and engage in the activities set out in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council7, including concentrating supply and placing their members’ products on the market.

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7 Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1308/oj).

(12)To strengthen the negotiating position of recognised producer organisations and to ensure the viable development of agricultural production, recognised associations of producer organisations should be allowed to negotiate contract terms on behalf of their members, including price, for some or all of their members’ production, except for fruit and vegetables unless expressly requested by the associations of producer organisations. This possibility should be allowed, subject to the safeguard that the organisations which are members of those associations are not also members of another association of producer organisations and the volume of products covered by the activities of the association does not exceed 33% of the total national production of any given Member State or 5 % of production in the Union as a whole. In order to maintain effective competition on the market, recognised associations of producer organisations should also not be allowed to negotiate contract terms where those associations include non-recognised producer organisations.

(13)To prevent purchasers from undermining the bargaining position of producer organisations, appropriate safeguards should be established for contacts between purchasers and members of those producer organisations. While purchasers may contact members of producer organisations, those contacts should not undermine the objectives of the producer organisations, or the concentration of supply and placing of products on the market. In parallel, it is recommended that, besides standardised digital tools, farmers should also have the benefit of easily-completable standard contract formats which are available at national level and which can be sent by email, in order to reduce red tape. Moreover, Member States should provide easily accessible online training courses and instructions for the drafting and registration of contracts.

(15)Certain Member States have decided that all deliveries of agricultural products in their territory are to be covered by written contracts between the parties. Where the Member States do not make use of this possibility, farmers, producer organisations or associations of producer organisations can request the use of written contracts. However, due to the weaker bargaining position of farmers and the fear of commercial retaliation by purchasers, it can be difficult for farmers and their associations to make such a request. To increase trust, transparency, and efficiency within the supply chain and to enable all farmers, producer organisations and associations of producer organisations to benefit from the use of written contracts, deliveries of agricultural products in the Union by a farmer, a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations to a processor, distributor or retailer should be covered by a written contract. Member States should, at the request of an interbranch organisation or an organisation deemed to be largely representative of an agricultural sector, be able to decide whether to exempt certain specific sectors from the requirement for a written contract.

(16)To better take into account the signals of the market and to improve price transmission, Member States should be able to require the use of written contracts for the delivery of agricultural products by producers other than farmers, by producer organisations or associations of producer organisations, and to require that producers make use of written offers for contracts for the delivery of agricultural products. In the interests of simplicity and reduction of transaction costs, this Regulation should lay down certain exceptions to the required use of written contracts or written offers for contracts and allow Member States to exempt certain deliveries from the required use of written contracts or written offers, while leaving farmers and their associations the possibility of requesting the use of written contracts or written offers when there is no such obligation. This flexibility should be applied without compromising the protection of farmers, while the exceptions should be clearly defined in order to prevent abusive interpretations and the circumvention of contractual obligations.

(17)The required use of written contracts for the delivery of agricultural products and the basic conditions for their use should be laid down at Union level, while ensuring that the right of the parties to negotiate all elements of their contracts is not restricted beyond what is strictly necessary. However, Member States should not be prevented from taking stricter measures to combat unfair trading practices within the agricultural and food supply chain, provided that those measures are appropriate and proportionate to their objectives, and are compatible with Directive (EU) 2019/633. Simplification of the contracting process, notably by means of standardised and digitalised templates and formats that can be sent by email, is key in order to ensure effective and fair application of these rules, especially in the case of small producers, while sufficient flexibility should be ensured to properly account for the diversity of the farming sector.

(18)To encourage parties to reach an amicable settlement in case of disputes over the conclusion or review of a written contract, Member States should establish mediation mechanisms. Those mediation mechanisms should remain entirely voluntary for all parties. Member States should ensure that when there is no agreement on the formalisation, interpretation or fulfilment of a contract, the parties are able to request mediation. Member States should inform the Commission about the mediation legal framework or mechanisms in place in their territory, and the Commission may facilitate exchanges of best practices about those legal frameworks or mechanisms.

(19)To facilitate the functioning of price transmission mechanisms, where the final price payable for the delivery of agricultural products is calculated by combining various factors set out in the contract, those factors should include objective indicators, indices or methods of calculation that are easily understandable by the parties. To avoid that farmers are forced to sell systematically below their production costs, the indicators, indices and methods of calculation of the final price should reflect changes in market conditions and production costs of the agricultural products delivered. The final price should cover the full production costs including fair remuneration of producers and total costs for additional services. The EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory (AFCO) might be used to provide information on prices in the agri-food chain, cost structures, as well as of distribution of margins and added value, while adhering to confidentiality and competition rules. Wholesale markets could play an important role in building prices mechanisms. They are accredited structures that can ensure prices transparency and contribute to a more balanced distribution along the value chain.

(20)Considering the vulnerable negotiating position of farmers and their organisations, recent instances of significant volatility in agricultural input costs and market prices, and the need for a more efficient price transmission within the supply chain, contracts with a duration of more than 6 months and 12 months for sectors that trade in future markets should include a revision clause that may be triggered by the farmers and their organisations. Such a clause should permit farmers to request after the 6 months at any moment a revision of the elements of the contract and permit them to end the contract in case no agreement on a revision is reached, without interfering with the right of the parties to negotiate other possibilities for the revision of the contract. It should be possible for those contracts to be revised in the light of unforeseen circumstances, such as extreme weather events, animal disease outbreaks, geopolitical tensions, or any other reason that prevents the agreed price from covering the farmers’ costs, which would contribute to better protection of farmers against market volatility and their better adaptation to economic realities.

(21)To enhance contractual transparency and contribute to fairer trading practices, Member States should be able to require, where justified, the registration of written contracts for the delivery of agricultural products.

(22)Certain vertical and horizontal cooperation initiatives concerning agricultural and food products, which aim to apply requirements that could be more stringent, in ethical and social terms, than the mandatory requirements, can have positive effects on the objective of the common agricultural policy to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community and on the objective of socio-economic and sustainable development of rural areas in the Union. Therefore, under specific circumstances, such initiatives should not be subject to the application of Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

(23)In periods of severe market imbalance, specific categories of collective actions by private operators can contribute to stabilise the sectors concerned. With a view to ensuring that private operators have the necessary resources to implement these actions, the Commission should be able to make available Union resources from the agricultural reserve to support these actions, while ensuring feasibility and avoiding negative impact on direct payments. In that regard, the Commission should also make available other Union funding sources, if necessary. Member States should also be able to allocate additional national resources.

(26)To strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain, several provisions of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council8 should be amended as regards the types of intervention in certain sectors. These amendments aim to support farmers to become or remain members of producer organisations or associations of producer organisations recognised under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, in light of the positive role these organisations and associations play in strengthening the bargaining power of producers. Moreover, to ensure a more efficient and targeted support of producer organisations through the CAP Strategic Plans, the possibility of an increase of the Union financial assistance to operational programmes in certain sectors should be provided for, while ensuring feasibility and avoiding negative impact on direct payments.

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8 Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013, (OJ L 435, 6.12.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/2115/oj).

(30)In order to support the setting-up of types of intervention in the other sectors referred to in Article 42, point (f), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Member States should be allowed, as of 2025, further flexibility to adjust the allocation of funds to these sectors by using up to 6 % of their allocations for direct payment while ensuring feasibility and avoiding negative impact on direct payments.

(32)With a view to ensuring that Union resources from the agricultural reserve can be made available to the Member States in a fair and transparent manner in order to support collective actions by private operators in periods of severe market imbalance, the possibility to use the agricultural reserve should be extended to the support of collective actions when the Commission decides that competition rules do not apply to those actions while ensuring feasibility and avoiding negative impact on direct payments.

1.The terms ‘fair’, ‘equitable’ or terms equivalent to these terms may be used only, alone or in combination with other terms, on the labelling, in the presentation, on advertising material or on commercial documents of a product of the sectors listed in Article 1(2) that is placed on the market, with the prior consent of the farmers or their representative organisations, provided that these terms are used to inform purchasers about existing modalities for the organisation of production, distribution, or placing on the market, which contribute at least to:

(a)stability, including through contracts between producers and buyers to limit the impact of economic uncertainties, traceability and transparency in the relations of farmers with purchasers along the supply chain;

(b)a price considered equitable and remunerative by participating farmers for their products and work also on the basis of the indications provided by the EU Agri-Food Supply Chain Observatory (AFCO);

(c)collective and socio-economic initiatives pursuing one or several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals contributing to the development of rural communities.

2.The term ‘short supply chain’ may be used only, alone or in combination with other terms, on the labelling, in the presentation, on advertising material or on commercial documents of a product of the sectors listed in Article 1(2), produced in, and placed on, the single market , with the prior consent of the farmers or their representative organisations, provided that the term is used to inform purchasers about existing modalities for the organisation of production, distribution, or placing on the market, which provide for at least one of the following conditions:

(a)a direct connection or a limited number of intermediaries between the farmer, cooperative or producer organisation and the final consumer of the product, or

(b)a close connection, and geographical proximity, understood as a short distance or short travelling time, including cross-border contexts, between the farmer, cooperative or producer organisation and the final consumer of the product.

The Commission may adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 227 in order to supplement this Regulation by specifying further the conditions referred to in paragraph 1, points (a), (b) and (c), and in paragraph 2, points (a) and (b), taking into account any relevant international standard and related quality certified schemes.

a)the delivery of milk and milk products by producers that are not covered by paragraph 1 shall be covered by a written contract;

b)producer organisations, associations of producer organisations or farmers shall make a written offer for a contract for the delivery of milk and milk products to the first purchasers.

Member States shall establish a mediation mechanism to cover cases in which there is no mutual agreement on the formalisation, interpretation or fulfilment of a contract referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 or to revise such a contract. This mechanism shall be voluntary for the contracting parties and impartial and may include representatives of farmers' representative organisations.

Member States shall inform the Commission of the legal framework for the mediation mechanisms available in their territory.

(b)be made in writing, whether on paper or in digital form, and

(i)the price payable for the delivery with explicit indication of all payments, including applicable discounts, which shall:

–be calculated by combining various objective, verifiable and non-manipulable factors set out in the contract, which shall include objective indicators, indices or methods of calculation of the final price, that are easily accessible and comprehensible and that reflect changes in market conditions, inflation, full production costs, including the remuneration of farmers, total costs for additional services, the quantities delivered and the quality or composition of the milk and milk products delivered.

(iii)the duration of the contract, which may include a definite duration or an indefinite duration with a termination clause. In the case of a contract with a minimum duration longer than six months and the contract shall include a revision clause that may be triggered by the farmer, a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations on the basis of unforeseen circumstances, such as extreme weather events, animal disease outbreaks, geopolitical tensions, or any other reason that prevents the agreed price from covering the farmers’ costs;

(iv)details regarding payment periods, procedures and the point in time in which the ownership and risk transfer;

(a)the milk or the milk products concerned are delivered by a member of a producer organisation or cooperative to the producer organisation or cooperative of which it is a member provided that the statutes of that producer organisation or cooperative or the rules and decisions provided for in, or derived from, these statutes contain provisions having similar objectives as the provisions set out in paragraph 4;

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(a)the delivery concerns products of a value equal to or below a threshold to be determined by the Member State, which shall not exceed EUR 4 000;

7.Where pursuant to paragraph 5, point (d), or paragraph 6, a written contract or a written offer for a contract is not required, a farmer, a producer organisation, or an association of producer organisations may require that a delivery of milk or milk products be the subject of a written contract or of a written offer for a contract. Such a contract or offer for a contract shall fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraph 4 and paragraph 8, first subparagraph.

All elements of contracts for the delivery of milk or milk products concluded between farmers, producer organisations or associations of producer organisations and collectors, processors, distributors or retailers, including the elements and their components referred to in paragraph 4, point (c), shall be freely negotiated between the parties, without prejudice of the additional requirements introduced by Member States.

10.Member States that make use of the options referred to in this Article shall notify the Commission of how they are applied.

(a)are constituted by producers in one or several sectors listed in Article 1(2), and are controlled by farmer members, or, in the case of the fruit and vegetables sector, producers, in accordance with Article 153(2), point (c);

(b)are formed on the initiative of farmers, or, in the case of the fruit and vegetables sector, producers, and carry out at least one of the following activities:

1a.By way of derogation from Article 101(1) TFEU, a producer organisation recognised under paragraph 1 of this Article, or a producer organisation, including a cooperative, or any other equivalent legal form registered in accordance with national law, that has not been recognised as a producer organisation by a Member State, but meets the requirements set out in paragraph 1 of this Article and of Article 154, may plan production, optimise the production costs, place on the market and negotiate contracts for the supply of agricultural products, on behalf of its members for all or part of their total production.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1a and the first subparagraph, an association of producer organisations recognised under Article 156(1) may also carry out the activities referred to in paragraph 1a, first subparagraph, with the exception of the fruit and vegetables sector unless expressly requested by an association of producer organisations, provided that:

(d)the volume of products covered by the activities referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1a does not exceed 33% of the total national production of any given Member State or 5 % of the production of the Union as a whole.

2a.The statutes of a producer organisation shall ensure that the objective of concentration of supply is achieved, in particular by ensuring that the producer organisation negotiates and determines the essential elements of sales such as price, quality and volume. The statutes may provide for the possibility of members, being in direct contact with purchasers, provided that such direct contact does not jeopardise the objectives pursued by the producer organisation, or the concentration of supply and placing of products on the market by the producer organisation. Concentration of supply and placing of products on the market shall be deemed to have been ensured if the essential elements of the sales such as price, quality and volume are negotiated and determined by the producer organisation.

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(a)the delivery of agricultural products by producers that are not covered by paragraph 1 shall be covered by a written contract,

(b)producer organisations, associations of producer organisations or farmers shall make a written offer for a contract for the delivery of agricultural products to the first purchasers.

Member States shall establish a mediation mechanism to cover cases in which there is no mutual agreement on the formalisation, interpretation or fulfilment of a contract referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 or on such a contract. That mechanism shall be voluntary for the contracting parties and impartial. That mechanism may involve representatives of farmers' representative organisations.

Member States shall inform the Commission about the mediation legal framework or mechanisms available in their territory.

(b)be made in writing, whether on paper or in digital form, and

(i)the price payable for the delivery with explicit indication of all payments, including applicable discounts, which shall:

–be calculated by combining various objective, verifiable and non-manipulable factors set out in the contract, which shall include objective indicators, indices or methods of calculation of the final price, that are easily accessible and comprehensible and that reflect changes in market conditions, inflation, full production costs, including the remuneration of farmers, the total costs for additional services, the quantities delivered and the quality or composition of the agricultural products delivered; to that effect, Member States or regional authorities may determine indicators, that shall be published online for use in contract, in accordance with objective criteria based on studies carried out on production and the food supply chain, data provided by the interbranch organisations recognised in accordance with Article 157(1), or data from the EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory. The parties to the contracts shall be free to refer to these indicators or any other indicators which they deem relevant.

(iii)the duration of the contract, which may include either a definite duration or an indefinite duration with a termination clause. In the case of contracts with a minimum duration longer than six months and 12 months for sectors that trade in future markets, the contract shall also include a revision clause that may be triggered, in particular, by the farmer, a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations, on the basis of unforeseen circumstances, such as extreme weather events, animal disease outbreaks, geopolitical tensions, or any other reason that prevents the agreed price from covering the farmers’ costs;

(iv)details regarding payment periods, procedures and the point in time in which the ownership and risk transfer,

(a)The agricultural products concerned are delivered by a member of a producer organisation or cooperative to the producer organisation or cooperative of which they are a member provided that the statutes of that producer organisation or cooperative or the rules and decisions provided for in, or derived from, these statutes contain provisions having similar objectives as the provisions set out in points (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 4;

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(a)the delivery concerns products of a value equal to or below a threshold to be determined by the Member State, which shall not exceed EUR 4 000;

7.Where pursuant to paragraph 5, point (d), or paragraphs 6 and 6a, a written contract or a written offer for a contract is not required, a farmer, a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations, may require that any delivery of agricultural products to a processor, distributor or retailer be the subject of a written contract between the parties or of a written offer for a contract. Such a contract or offer for a contract shall fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraph 4 and paragraph 8, first subparagraph.

All elements of contracts for the delivery of agricultural products concluded between farmers, producer organisations or association of producer organisations, and processors, distributors, or retailers including those elements and their components referred to in paragraph 4, point (c), shall be freely negotiated between the parties, without prejudice to the additional requirements introduced by Member States.

9.Member States may require, where justified, the purchaser of agricultural products to register the written contracts referred to in paragraph 1 prior to the delivery of the agricultural products concerned by the farmer, a producer organisation, or an association of producer organisations to a processor, distributor or retailer in their territory, except for seasonal and perishable products.

10.Member States that make use of the options referred to in this Article shall notify the Commission of how they are applied.

(d)supporting the economic viability of small and family farms with a standard output as defined in Article 2, point (8), of Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/200911 that shall not exceed 100 000 EUR;

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11 Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up the Farm Sustainability Data Network (OJ L 328 15.12.2009, p. 27, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/1217/oj).

From [entry into force +2 years], producers as referred to in paragraph 1 may request an opinion from the Commission concerning the compatibility of agreements, decisions and concerted practices as referred to in paragraph 1 with regard to the implementation of sustainability standards aiming to contribute to one or more of the objectives laid down in paragraph 3, points (d) to (fd), with this Article.

(a)market withdrawal or free distribution of their products including to charity bodies;

(g)temporary planning of production taking into account the specific nature of the production cycle, in particular of perishable products.

Where the Commission adopts implementing acts in accordance with the first subparagraph of this Article, it may decide to make Union support from the agricultural reserve referred to in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 available to the Member States concerned, with the possibility for that support to be mobilised immediately in the event of a crisis, provided that it has first assessed the feasibility of such support. Such financial support shall provide the means necessary for the implementation of these agreements and decisions by the operators concerned. The Commission shall ensure that use of funds to support actions under those implementing acts does not compromise direct payments. If necessary, the Commission shall make available other Union funding to support actions under this subparagraph.

2.The duration of the delivery contracts may be pluriannual.

The price shall be calculated by combining various objective, verifiable and non-manipulable factors set out in the contract, which shall include objective indicators, indices or methods of calculation of the final price, that are easily accessible and comprehensible and that reflect changes in market conditions, inflation, full production costs, including the remuneration of farmers, the total costs for additional services, the quantities delivered and the quality or composition of the agricultural products delivered. To that effect, Member States or regional authorities may determine indicators, that shall be published online for use in contracts, in accordance with objective criteria based on studies carried out on production and the food supply chain, data provided by the interbranch organisations recognised in accordance with Article 157(1), or data from the EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory. The parties to the contracts shall be free to refer to these indicators or any other indicators which they deem relevant.

5a.The 50 % limit provided for in paragraph 1 shall be increased to 70 % for expenditure linked to the objectives referred to in Article 46, points (a), (b) or (c), if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(b)the investments referred to in point (a) are made at the premises of these young farmers or new farmers or in the case of the fruit and vegetables sector, producers, who join a producer organisation recognised under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the first time, as part of their first operational programme and during the 7 years following the date on which young farmers or new farmer joined the producer organisation.

As of 2025, Member States may review their decisions referred to in paragraph 6 as part of a request for amendment of their CAP Strategic Plans made in accordance with Article 119 and decide to use up to 6 % of their allocations for direct payments set out in Annex V, where relevant after deduction of the allocations for cotton set in Annex VIII, for types of intervention in other sectors referred to in Title III, Chapter III, Section 7, provided that such a decision does not adversely affect the level of basic income support for sustainability.