Brussels, 15/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - Adopting a report by Esther Herranz García (EPP, Spain) in Strasbourg on Tuesday 15 April by 557 votes to 102, and 12 abstentions, the European Parliament approved the inter-institutional agreement that was reached in a record time of five months. The Council of Ministers must now formally endorse the regulation.
The draft regulation aims to boost the sales of EU farm produce within the EU and abroad and to restore consumer confidence in the event of market disruptions (see EUROPE 11056 and 11052).
Under the agreement, the EU and the body proposing the action will fully finance information and promotion campaigns (the member states will not be required to contribute financially, as initially suggested by the European Commission). But to offset a possible lack of funding from producers, the three institutions followed Parliament's lead and enabled the EU to increase its share of funding. The EU budget will contribute: 1) 70% of spending on simple promotion campaigns (in only one country) within the EU; 2) 80% for programmes targeting third countries (rather than the 50-60% proposed initially by the Commission); 3) 80% for multi-co0untrty campaigns, whether in the internal market or in third countries; 4) 85% in the event of serious disruption of the market or loss of consumer confidence; 5) 5 additional percentage points if the organisation proposing the action is from an EU member state receiving financial assistance.
The European Commission will be allowed to launch programmes rapidly where required to deal with serious disturbances to the market to loss of consumer confidence.
More products now covered. The deal also adds beer, chocolate, bread and pastry, pasta, salt, sweetcorn and cotton to the list of products eligible for the full range of EU-supported promotion measures. Fish and fish farming products may be added to this list provided they are bundled in a promotion or information campaign with other eligible farm products. The European Parliament ensured that wines with a protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) could qualify for EU support provided promotion campaigns are sponsored by organisations from several member states. For campaigns designed by organisation(s) from a single member state, wine could be added to the list only if bundled with other eligible products. (LC)