This book focuses on the question of whether European agricultural legislation and competition rules offer any scope for self-regulation in the European dairy market. Within this larger question, certain sub-questions also arise: what are the relevant legal rules applicable to the dairy market, and what type of self-regulation is possible within the present legal framework? The book offers a number of suggestions for modification of agricultural and competition policies in order to serve the interests of Europe's dairy farmers better.
Following an introductory discussion of the Treaty provisions on agriculture, this illuminating work examines the four regulations that currently govern the Common Agricultural Policy in the areas of Direct Payments, Rural Development, Finance, and the Common Organisation of the markets and considers their interpretation by the European Courts. It concludes with an astute assessment of the proposals for further reform, which will give Member States greater discretion in fine-tuning the principles of the policy established at European level to the particular characteristics of their agricultural sector.
The European Union‘s common agricultural policy is without question the most economically significant policy area in EU law, as well as the area in which Union regulation has been implemented most consistently and intensely. This book contends that today, considering this comprehensive regulation of issues that are of prime economic importance – and the rich case law that this EU policy has generated – EU agricultural law cannot be treated as an isolated discipline, but must be seen in the context of general Union law. The author first deeply explores in an unprecedented way what is meant by the expressions ‘agriculture’, ‘agricultural activity’, and ‘agricultural producer’ found in current EU legislation, and goes on to provide a detailed legal analysis in contexts from Member States to the World Trade Organization. In the course of the presentation he examines the following, among much else: the principle of unified markets or common prices; structural funds for promoting regional agricultural development; encouragement of local strategies based on partnership and experience-sharing networks; environmentally friendly agricultural measures; the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD); whether a person or undertaking produces agricultural products or processes them; food safety measures; animal welfare; agricultural training and research; ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural community; interventions concerning storage or production limitation; State aid schemes; marketing standards; geographical indications; trade with third countries; support for improving the environment and the countryside; payment of aid pursuant to the single payment scheme; and WTO rules on domestic support measures, import duties and restrictions, and exports. As a full-length, in-depth analysis of EU agricultural law, this book has no peers. It is sure to be welcomed not only by legal academics, but by all who are professionally engaged in dealing with issues of Union agricultural law, whether lawyers, professional interest groups, or administrative authorities.
What are the normative foundations of competition law? That is the question at the heart of this book. Leading scholars consider whether this branch of law serves just one or more than one goal, and if it serves to protect unfettered competition as such, how this goal relates to other objectives such as the promotion of economic welfare. The book brings together contributions on the relevance of different welfare standards, on the concept of 'freedom to compete' and on distributional fairness as a goal of competition law. Moreover, it discusses the relationship to other legal goals such as mar.
European Monographs Series, Volume 9 This second and much-revised edition of the pre-eminent work on European Union (EU) agricultural law emphasises the sweeping changes that have led to the gradual expansion of the common agricultural policy to encompass the food chain as a whole. Although the new edition’s purpose and methodology remain the same, the author presents a completely new overview of the field as it now exists, including the effects of the latest reform measures up to 2021 and their implications for the future. Imparting in-depth awareness of the multifunctional character of agriculture today – its importance for environmental protection, preservation of biodiversity, public health, mitigation of climate change, and rural development, as well as its international obligations – the book provides matchless insight and clarifications on such critical legal details as the following: analysis of the Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030; extensive treatment of the TFEU provisions on agriculture and the impact of international legal instruments; clear and easily accessible treatment of the legislation on market and price policy, competition, and the agri-food chain; thorough analysis of administrative law aspects, in particular, the rights and obligations of operators in the framework of numerous subsidy arrangements and related topics such as sanctions and force majeure; and in-depth treatment of the importance of the general principles of EU law for legal protection. Given that about one-third of the EU’s budget is spent on agriculture – and that European legislation on agriculture is voluminous and complicated and case law is abundant – this well-organised and lucid exposition will be of immeasurable value to any practitioner asked to deal with a case involving agriculture anywhere in the EU. Academics aware of the growing intricacy of the field will welcome the author’s reflections on the meaning and significance of EU agricultural law.
Presenting cutting-edge insights into the current state of EU legislation, this book addresses the profound changes that the EU’s legislature has undergone in recent years and how these shape the development of EU law. At the heart of this inquiry is how the strive for uniform EU legislation is balanced with the necessity to leave a certain degree of autonomy to Member States.
Following the conclusion of the latest round of reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2013, the Research Handbook on EU Agriculture Law provides an up-to-date discussion of these reforms and the changing landscape in which the CAP now operates. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, and with international contributors from across Europe and the United States, the Handbook commences with analyses of the legal instruments which implement the reformed CAP, before moving on to consider questions of land use, the role of agriculture within the wider food chain and the international dimension. In these contexts, particular issues identified include: the environmental impact of past, present and future farming practices; the ability of the food chain to accommodate consumer preferences and scientific innovation; and the hurdles to be cleared before international consensus can be reached on a whole range of agricultural imperatives. As well as providing a state-of-the-art point of reference for academics, this comprehensive book will be of great interest to students, scholars and policymakers dealing with these new challenges faced by agriculture in the EU.
The differences between agricultural law and food law are becoming progressively blurred. This is only natural because both intend to control that food products placed in the market are safe and respond to a certain standard of quality. In their present form, both are relatively new legal disciplines, evolving and expanding very rapidly and a great number of new and transcendental regulations (and an increasing number of compulsory private rules) are being enacted to respond to new realities. One of these new realities is the legal protection of quality in food. Once almost exclusively applied to a limited number of traditional well-known products and now extended to many products covered by designations of origin or geographical indications. Another area is food safety, a major concern of the legislator. Food alerts, recalls and withdrawals have been carefully regulated to guarantee a rapid and efficient reaction, but these legal mechanisms appear to be less well-designed when dealing with the unwanted consequences of unjustified alerts. A third topic is food prices and trading conditions, an area that cannot always be completely left to unregulated market-forces due to the special nature of the product involved. The above issues are analysed by several experts from different legal backgrounds and countries, a varied approach adequate to the hybrid nature of food law.
The food industry is a notoriously complex economic sector that has not received the attention it deserves within legal scholarship. Production and distribution of food is complex because of its polycentric character (as it operates at the intersection of different public policies) and its dynamic evolution and transformation in the last few decades (from technological and governance perspectives). This volume introduces the global value chain approach as a useful way to analyse competition law and applies it to the operations of food chains and the challenges of their regulation. Together, the chapters not only provide a comprehensive mapping of a vast comparative field, but also shed light on the intricacies of the various policies and legal fields in operation. The book offers a conceptual and theoretical framework for competition authorities, companies and academics, and fills a massive gap in the competition policy literature dealing with global value chains and food.
This timely book addresses the contemporary complexities within competition law, questioning whether the founding principles of competition law still hold true today. It explores three main present-day challenges for competition law: the impact of the digital economy and innovative sectors, the challenges facing emerging countries, and current institutional issues.
