Brussels, 28/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Management Committee voted through a proposal on Tuesday 28 February which will ensure that the aid for the needy scheme will receive total funding of €500 million in 2012. A projected 18-19 million people in 20 member states are expected to benefit from the aid.
Following a General Court ruling on 13 April 2011 that any food covered by the programme could only be sourced from public intervention stocks - and not from the open market - the Commission was obliged to reduce funding for the scheme to €113 million this year. In December 2011, the Agriculture Council reached an agreement which meant that the full €500 million budget could be retained for 2012 and 2013, the new rules permitting monetary allocations for the purchase of food products on the market, in the absence of intervention stocks. This was subsequently backed in the European Parliament and Council second readings, and published in the Official Journal last week. The scheme will no longer be funded by the common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2013. (LC/transl.rt)