Brussels, 16/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - Stockpiles of food in the EU should continue to provide food to the poorest Europeans, argued the president of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, on Monday 14 February. Several member states, led by Germany, want the common agricultural policy (CAP) to stop giving food aid to the poor.
Barroso's stand does not come as a surprise. In September 2010, backed by the European Parliament, the European Commission suggested that the EU food aid programme for the poorest people in the EU should be extended (with a few adjustments). Some member states, however, including Germany, the UK and Scandinavian countries, oppose continuation of the food aid programme (which has a budget of up to €500 million a year), arguing that food aid is a social policy rather than an agricultural policy and comes under the power of the member states rather than the Commission (see EUROPE 10224).
AFP reports that on a visit to the Food Bank in Strasbourg, José Manuel Barroso said that it would be scandalous to scrap what some people want, namely programmes to combat poverty, especially at a time when there are growing numbers of poor people in Europe. He said that he disagreed with those who say that this is a matter for the member states alone because Europe also had to take social action and if extra aid can be given to the poorest people at EU level, then it should be done.
The EU food aid programme for the poor was set up in 1987, originally providing stockpiled food (“intervention stocks”) to the poorest people in Europe. It was altered in the 1990s as part of the reform of the CAP to allow the stockpiled food to be supplemented by food purchased on the market in certain circumstances. An estimated 43 million people in the EU are at risk of food poverty, meaning that they cannot afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day. Twenty member states are participating in the food aid programme this year. (L.C./transl.fl)