EU Commission Confirms Targeted Revision of Unfair Trading Practices Directive

Targeted Revision of 2019 UTP Directive Announced

During the Agriculture Council meeting held on October 26, 2026, European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen confirmed that the European Commission will carry out a targeted revision of the 2019 Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) directive.

The announcement establishes a formal process to amend the existing EU framework governing commercial conduct in the agri-food supply chain. The directive, originally adopted in 2019, was introduced to safeguard agricultural producers and smaller food businesses against stronger commercial counterparties. The upcoming revision indicates a shift toward tightening the regulatory baseline across the European Union.

Visegrád Group Push for Greater Farmer Protection

The Commission's decision to revise the rules follows coordinated pressure and a formal request from the Visegrád group, which includes Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Ministers from the four Central European member states advocated for stronger legal protections for agricultural producers against purchasers wielding significant market power. The coalition emphasized that agricultural producers remain vulnerable to the commercial terms set by dominant buyers, prompting the call for an updated and more robust regulatory framework.

Scope of the Revision: Below-Cost Selling and Enforcement

The targeted revision announced by Commissioner Hansen seeks to address several operational and structural elements of the current legislation:

• Improving Enforcement: Strengthening how current rules are implemented and monitored across jurisdictions.
• Clarifying Existing Provisions: Resolving ambiguities in legal definitions and procedural guidelines within the 2019 framework.
• Addressing New Practices: Expanding the directive's coverage to include commercial practices not adequately covered under current provisions.
• Systematic Below-Cost Selling: Directly targeting the practice of systematic below-cost selling, which has emerged as a key priority for member states seeking to protect farm-gate prices and commercial balance.

Cross-Border Regulatory Cooperation from September 2027

A critical component of the upcoming reform involves improving cross-border enforcement consistency among EU member states.

To achieve this, the Commission plans to anchor enforcement actions in a new regulation specifically designed to govern administrative cooperation between national authorities. This cooperation framework is scheduled to apply starting in September 2027, providing member state enforcement bodies with coordinated mechanisms to investigate and penalize unfair trading practices that operate across national borders within the single market.