Brussels, 07/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Food poverty threatens 43 million people within the EU. According to the European Parliament, it is out of the question to do away with the European programme for distributing foodstuffs to the poor of the EU. This programme, whose continuation is now threatened, provides food aid to 13 million people in 19 EU member states and provides work for 240 food banks and charity associations.
Further to the General Court's ruling, the Commission proposal for 2012 involves a radical cut in funding, which falls from €500 million in 2011 to €113 million in 2012. In its ruling of 13 April 2011, the Court decided that only the provision of foodstuffs from intervention stocks can be covered by the programme, not the spending on the purchase of foodstuffs on the market. Successive reforms have greatly reduced stocks.
With the adoption on Thursday 7 July of a joint resolution (by 548 votes to 52 and 26 abstentions) on the scheme for distributing food, the EP underlines that the sudden cessation of an existing and operational support scheme without prior notification or preparation will have considerable impact on the most vulnerable citizens of the Union and would not be reliable funding practice.
MEPs call on the Commission and Council to find a way to continue the distribution scheme for the last two years of the current financing period (2012 and 2013) and for the coming financing period 2014-2020. For that, it will be necessary to find a legal base for the programme that cannot be challenged by the EU Court of Justice, and keep the annual ceiling of €500 million.
The EP notes the proposal announced by Commissioner Dacian Ciolos on 29 June to no longer make the scheme for the distribution of food to the most deprived persons depend on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013. In its proposals on the financial framework for 2007-2013, the Commission proposes €2.5 billion for the distribution of food to the EU's most deprived persons.
For the years 2012 and 2013, the Commission is asked to suggest amendments to the regulations concerning the distribution of food to the very poorest in order to find a solution to the current impasse in the dossier at Council level. The Commission calls on EU countries to agree on its 2010 proposal to allow the programme to be continued until 2013. (L.C./transl.jl)