According to the Commission, the reforms aim to improve competitiviness, protect farmers from crisis, and implement fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and environmental protection.
It takes stock on a consultation launched in 2006, to which EPHA had responded.
The proposals are as follows :
Closing the link between subsidies and the amount of food produced, in order to integrate the F&V sector into a Single Payment Scheme. The inclusion of the F&V sector into the Single Payment Scheme means that the Cross Compliance criteria, which must be met in order to receive direct payments, such as environmental care, animal welfare and public health, will be compulsory.
Member States have three options for fulfilling cross compliance obligations : giving support for agri-environmental commitments ; fixing general mandatory environmental requirements (based on environmental legislation) ; and setting out specific environmental standards. Where farmers do not respect the environmental requirements, appropriate sanctions are to be applied.
Export subsidies will be abolished in order to end the distortion that these measures are causing on world trade. According to the European Commission, the aim will be to benefit the poorest countries that cannot compete with low prices, resulting from products being sold below the cost of production in the international market (otherwise known as "dumping").
The reforms are designed to encourage fruit and vegetables farmers to join producer organisations. To do so their rules will be simplified and producers will be free to join different PO’s for each product. Moreover, at least 20% of their operational programmes has to be devoted to environmental measures.
Promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption by Producer Organisations will be co-finaced by up to 60%, if the promotion is targeted at children and adolescents.
Until now market withdrawals of perishable foods that were not selling in sufficient quantities were 100% subsidised. Instead, the Commssion proposes that in the future, PO’s will have to pay 50% of the cost, unless the food is distributed free of charge to charitable organisations, schools, hospitals or old people’s homes. In this case, the Commission will cover 100% of the cost of the withdrawal.
EPHA’s initial comments
It seems that these proposed measures position CAP more in line with a health perspective.
However, these proposals cannot work properly without an increase in the budget allocated for the F&V sector, which currently receives the smallest portion of the whole budget set aside for the CAP.
Given that the European Commission is planning to reduce the cost of the whole CAP (currently almost 50% of the total EU budget), the only one solution might be reducing other sector’s subsidies. EPHA calls for a reduction in sugar subsidies that only benefit the food industry (Nestle, Coca Cola, etc), and the phasing out of tobacco aids.
Related links
WHO : Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption around the world
