Brussels, 20/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has decided to send the commissioner for health, John Dalli, to Moscow to convince the Russian authorities to respect their commitment taken at the EU/Russia summit on 9 June to lift their embargo on European vegetables. According to Pia Ahrenkilde, the Commission spokesperson, a letter had been addressed to the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, by the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, in which he deplored the fact that the political agreement established 10 days ago at Nizhny Novgorod had not been implemented. The Commission had already demonstrated its discontent in vain last week and had called for but had not succeeded in obtaining the lifting of the Russian embargo on European vegetables, imposed on 2 June by Moscow. This was at the heart of the epidemic caused by the mortal E.coli bacteria in Germany (Berlin shortly afterward announced that it had identified the source of the contamination in a farm in the north of the country that produced germinating shoots). Barroso therefore informed the Russian president of his decision to send a Commission delegation to Moscow in the next few days, headed by the commissioner for health, John Dalli, in an effort to ensure these agreements were applied.
Every year, the EU exports 1.1 million tonnes of vegetables to Russia, which are worth an annual €600 million. This accounts for a quarter of its exports to its large neighbour. Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Belgium are the main suppliers. (E.H.trans/fl)