Brussels, 09/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - A number of MEPs, including Esther de Lange and Albert Deâ of the EPP and Thijs Berman and Jo Leinen of the S&D Group, have expressed their concern over the fate of the European potato starch sector after 2012. From this date, decoupled payments (where the link between premium paid and quantities produced is broken) will replace the current scheme for European potato starch producers and, according to some studies, the sector could lose up to 40% of its present market.
The MEPs said that the potato starch sector played an important role in the green economy, “based on organic farming and developing starch-based products”. They called on the Commission to take action on two fronts: - putting in place interim measures - within the framework of current budgetary limits - giving the sector a soft landing after 2012; - introducing a voluntary restructuring regime, under which operators who voluntarily reduce their production capacity become eligible for restructuring aid (as has already been done in the sugar sector).
For the European Commission, Commissioner John Dalli pointed out that the reform of this sector had been part of the common agricultural policy (CAP) health check which was agreed in November 2008 (see EUROPE 9787). He stated that it was at the request of the sector that the Council had decided that all aid would be decoupled at the same time (from 1 July 2012) to coincide with the end of the quota system. “The request for setting up a restructuring fund is difficult to accommodate within the budget allocated to the sector,” Dalli said. Furthermore, even if a regulation putting in place such a fund were to be adopted, it could not come into force before July 2011, “leaving a restructuring period of only one year, with a very restricted budget. It is not enough to cover capacity which could be up to 40% of total production capacity,” the commissioner noted. “Going back on health check decisions is not an option. We are discussing the CAP post-2013 at the moment. For agriculture as a whole, we want a strong, effective and well balanced CAP. The potato starch sector, just like the other sectors, can take part in this debate,” he stated. (L.C./transl.rt)