Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Antitrust Guidelines for Sustainability Agreements in Agriculture: Discussion

Ms Henrieta Jany-Roskova:

This is why there are certain rules to this. Basically, you need to go beyond what is mandatory at EU or national level. In the absence, of course, of mandatory standards, everything that goes beyond is considered to be mandatory. At the same time, however, you need to prove that there is actually a need to co-operate so that this sustainability standard, this sustainability objective, in the sustainability agreement would not be achieved individually. You also need to prove that the restriction of competition is indispensable. This means that, for example, if you are going only a bit above what is mandatory, stricter restrictions to competition would be doubtful to pass the indispensability test.