Brussels: The unfair trading practices directive is heading for a targeted revision, with the Commission planning to table a proposal by the end of 2026 after finishing its evaluation of the current rules.

The plan appears in the 2026 Annual Progress Report on Simplification, Implementation and Enforcement of Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen, published on 5 October and presented to farm ministers at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 27 October. The report covers the period from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026 and sets the unfair trading practices directive among its main enforcement files.

The unfair trading practices directive, formally Directive (EU) 2019/633, bans a list of abusive buying practices by large food buyers against farmers and smaller suppliers. The Commission has pursued it through dialogue before formal action. It held a UTP Implementation Dialogue on 6 March 2026, followed by a reality check on 17 March, and it has opened pre-infringement dialogues with 12 member states on how they apply the directive. Those talks suggest uneven national enforcement of the unfair trading practices directive, which the revision is likely to address.

Cross-border cases have been the weak point. In March 2026 the EU adopted Regulation (EU) 2026/697, which sets rules for cooperation among enforcement authorities when a buyer and a supplier sit in different countries. Together with the coming revision, it signals that Brussels wants national authorities to share evidence and act faster against buyers that operate across borders.

The report places the file in a wider push to cut red tape for farmers. It cites savings of up to 215 million euros a year from the January 2026 changes to Common Agricultural Policy secondary legislation, and estimates that the proposed Omnibus III package would save farmers 1.58 billion euros a year and national administrations 210 million euros. It also lists simplification of organic rules, with direct administrative savings of 47.7 million euros a year under a December 2025 proposal.

Enforcement stretches beyond trading practices. The Commission notes a June 2026 Court of Justice judgment in Case C-658/24, which found that a Hungarian scheme forcing retailers to cut prices breached the common market organisation regulation. It also reports 11 infringement procedures over late transposition of the breakfast directives, Directive (EU) 2024/1438.

For farmers, cooperatives and food retailers, the signal is that rules on buyer conduct will tighten rather than loosen. Retail groups will watch whether the revision widens the list of banned practices or changes protections for suppliers. The unfair trading practices directive will remain a priority for Hansen, and the end-2026 proposal will show how far the Commission is ready to go.