Brussels, 16/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Brussels on Friday 16 December, the EU27 agriculture ministers said they agree with the European Commission that “the EU needs a more ambitious and cost-effective promotion policy” to suit modern farming.
With regard to the EU budget, the Council of Ministers pointed out in its conclusions document that “the promotion policy should have financial resources which are commensurate with its objectives, without prejudice to the decisions on the EU's multiannual financial framework post-2013.”
The ministers noted that information and promotion activity should also be carried out to promote the potential of local farming and short-chain distribution which have an impact on the development of local entrepreneurship and the competitiveness of producers. At the same time, the national heritage would be protected and the whole production process would have a favourable impact on the environment. The Council recognises the need for an attractive policy in line with the needs of European farmers and organisations, especially with increased emphasis on non-EU countries. The ministers note the importance of parallel diplomatic and trade policy activity to secure access to non-EU country markets.
The Commission was encouraged in its ongoing work to explore all possible ways of achieving the objectives described above, notably by: (a) strengthening the image of European food and promoting European food as healthy, safe, of high quality and produced with respect for the environment and animal welfare, and helping to open new markets or increase market shares for EU products, especially in third countries; (b) providing consumers with better access to information on the European production model and increasing their level of familiarity with quality systems, such as PDO, PGI and organic farming, and products made in compliance with those systems; (c) making promotion policy responsive to crisis management (Ed: as it did recently with the E.coli outbreak); (d) improving and streamlining multi-country and multi-product programmes, particularly as an important tool in external markets; and (e) focusing on building the capacities of European producers and organisations (e.g. facilitating participation in programmes, exchanges of best practice using different communication platforms, etc). (LC/transl.fl)