Sustainability agreements in agriculture: the dilemma between competing and cooperating

Mariana Soares David e Inês F. Neves assinam o artigo intitulado “Sustainability agreements in agriculture: the dilemma between competing and cooperating”, publicado na plataforma digital Lexology.

As autoras afirmam: « It is known that competition rules prohibit agreements and other forms of coordination between companies which are restrictive of competition in the market. For instance, because economic operators coordinate the prices they apply to their products, the quantities to be sold or the common policy they (will) adopt regarding the (non-)use of a certain product.

But what if agreements or joint initiatives’ goal is to pursue sustainability objectives? Isn’t this an area where certain forms of enhanced cooperation between companies in the agri-food supply chain are legitimate and perhaps desirable? Is it possible or even viable or feasible to pursue certain sustainability goals according to an “every man for himself” approach? What will be the incentive to invest in certain necessary infrastructures, when one knows in advance that it is unfeasible to recover them? What about the risk of free riding by competitors?

One option is to consider that each scenario and the specific legal-economic context of each initiative will necessarily call for different answers, making an automatic check-list unfeasible. That may be the case. However, the truth is that these and other questions have caused some discomfort and are at the origin of a debate on the role of competition law regarding the green transition (or, in other words, the necessary harmonization between the various policies of the Union). (…)».

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