The government wants to present a new law by the summer to “strengthen the Egalim system” which should allow better remuneration for farmers within the framework of negotiations between distributors and agro-industrial suppliers, Gabriel Attal announced this Wednesday, during of a press conference on the agricultural crisis from Matignon.
The Prime Minister indicated that a parliamentary mission was entrusted to deputies Alexis Izard (Renaissance) and Anne-Laure Babault (MoDem) and that the text of the law will be presented on the basis of their conclusions. The term Egalim refers to the States General of Food, launched in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron to find a better distribution of income between players in the French food chain.
If the Egalim law “is a source of French pride” for the Prime Minister, “it must be improved and strengthened,” he said from Matignon. The head of government indicated that the executive wanted to “move forward around three major issues”: “the construction of prices”, “the place of production cost indicators” and “European purchasing centers”.
For his part, Bruno Le Maire took stock this Wednesday of the multiplication of controls on compliance with the Egalim law, announced at the end of January in reaction to the angry movement of farmers. “To date, we have carried out 1,400 checks on the 200 largest manufacturers and the 5 largest distributors,” indicated the Minister of the Economy, announcing “150 cases of non-compliance, in particular delays in the signing of contracts and case of non-compliance with deadlines. “Pre-sanctions” have been notified to the manufacturers and distributors concerned, he said. In addition, two European mass distribution purchasing centers which have not complied with the Egalim law are targeted by “pre-fines” amounting to several “tens of millions of euros”, added the tenant of Bercy.
Furthermore, Gabriel Attal recalled that the government was in favor of an Egalim system at European level. “Thanks to France’s commitment, this project has been opened by the European Commission,” he said. “It should make it possible, in particular, to fight against abusive practices and to resolve the issue of European purchasing centers, which some use to circumvent French law,” said the tenant of Matignon.
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST
