Brussels, 30/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Italy, with €18 million, Germany, with €11 million, and France, with €10 million, are the big winners in the allocation of Community funding for the 2011-2012 scheme to distribute fruit in schools. On Wednesday 30 March, the European Commission decided on the definitive allocation of aid to member states for this €90 million scheme. Only three countries (Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom) elected not to take part.
Among the other major beneficiaries are Poland (€9 million), Romania (€8 million), Spain (€6.2 million), Hungary (€3.6 million) and the Netherlands (€2.9 million). Average Community co-funding across the EU is 58% for 2011-2012. National or private contributions must be brought to complement EU funding. In 2009-2010, 4.7 million benefitted from the scheme by receiving portions of fruit in schools. (L.C./transl.rt)