Brussels, 12/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 14 July, the European Commission is to publish a Green Paper on information policy and the promotion of agricultural products. The Commission will consult all stakeholders until 30 September 2011 - consumers, producers, distributors and administrations - with a view to defining lines for a targeted and ambitious information and promotion strategy, able to best use the considerable resources available for the agricultural sector and agri-food sector in Europe.
The policy for information and promotion of agricultural products was created in the early 1980s. It has proven its worth by supporting efforts made by EU producers with a view to restoring consumer confidence shaken by the dioxin and mad cow crises. It has created an environment favourable for the opening up of new markets for products (such as olive oil), and contributed to the rise in quality labels. In addition to these positive examples, the five last years have shown the limits of information and promotion policy: - global markets are surging, and yet, promotion outside the EU is currently limited (less than half of that on the internal market); - multi-country initiatives or “multi-product” initiatives are insufficiently encouraged or seem too complex to be conducted in the current framework; - the geographical breakdown of programmes does not cover the whole range of products and know-how in EU countries; - and weaknesses were identified by the EU Court of Auditors in 2009 regarding the effectiveness of information and promotional measures.
The Commission has suggested ideas to optimise EU intervention on the internal market: - information campaigns in the event of economic or health crises; - and the creation of a European platform for exchange of best practice. It wonders whether it is timely to give more place to the mention of product origin, and notes that the process for selecting promotional programmes is amplified and long (7 months between date of submittal to the member states and the Commission decision). (L.C./transl.jl)