The Commission has today issued its first opinion regarding the compatibility of a sustainability agreement with competition rules for the agricultural sector. This opinion concerns an agreement on setting indicative prices for wine produced according to organic and Haute Valeur Environnementale (‘HVE) standards in the French region of Occitanie. The proposed agreement is between producers of wine meeting these standards and buyers of such wine to guide bulk wine transactions. The goal is to encourage the relevant producers to maintain their sustainable production practices.

The Sustainability Agreement

Producers of wine meeting the organic and HVE standards and active in the French Occitanie region requested the Commission to provide an opinion on the compatibility with Article 210a of Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 establishing a common organization of markets in agricultural products (‘CMO Regulation) of their proposed agreement with buyers of such wine on indicative prices (so-called “orientation prices”) to guide bulk wine transactions.

The French wine sector is currently facing significant oversupply, changing consumer preferences, and increased price sensitivity among consumers linked to inflation. Additionally, wine consumers are often unaware of the costs of sustainable production. In this context, many producers of organic and HVE wine are less profitable than conventional wine producers and may either switch to conventional production or exit wine production altogether.

Under the proposed agreement, to incentivize producers to continue sustainable production, the orientation prices will be set at a level that covers the costs of production in accordance with one of the two relevant sustainability standards (organic or HVE), plus a profit margin of up to 20% of those costs. The orientation prices will be established annually for each standard and for six grape varieties. The agreement will last for two years.

The Commission found that the agreement complies with all conditions of Article 210a of the CMO Regulation. In particular, the Commission concluded that the proposed agreement:

• involves agricultural producers;
• relates to the trade in agricultural products;
• aims at contributing to several sustainability objectives and applying sustainability standards that are higher than mandated by Union or national law; and
• any possible restriction of competition stemming from the agreement is essential for achieving those standards.

On this basis, the Commission issued a positive opinion on the agreement.

Background

Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU) generally prohibits agreements between companies that restrict competition, such as those between competitors that can lead to higher prices or lower quantities. However, in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy reform for 2023-2027, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted in 2021 an exclusion from this prohibition for agricultural products.

More specifically, Regulation 2021/2117 introduced this exclusion via a new Article 210a in the CMO Regulation. This provision allows agreements aimed at achieving a set of sustainability objectives by applying standards higher than what is mandatory under EU or national law, provided that any restrictions of competition that result from such agreements are indispensable for achieving those objectives. Article 210a enables agricultural producers to request an opinion from the Commission regarding the compatibility of their sustainability agreements with this provisions conditions.

On December 7, 2023, the Commission adopted Guidelines clarifying how operators in the agri-food sector can design joint sustainability initiatives in line with Article 210a.

On March 21, 2025, the Commission received a request for an opinion regarding the present sustainability agreement. Under Article 210a, the Commission had to issue its opinion within four months of the request, which it did.

For More Information

Further information on todays opinion will be available on the Commissions competition and agriculture and rural development websites once possible confidentiality issues have been resolved.