Brussels, 11/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 September, the European Commission announced that it was to suspend its support of €125 million for the EU perishable fruit and vegetables sector, due to a “disproportionate surge in claims”, mainly from Poland.
This decision is motivated by “serious doubts” as to the validity of the data submitted by Poland, whose producers alone have claimed 87% of the total envelope available.
In order to achieve the objective of stabilising the markets affected by the Russian embargo on imports of EU agricultural products, the Commission announced that it would come forward with a “more targeted” scheme in the near future. “The European Commission remains committed to support those producers who have suddenly lost an important market”, Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos stressed.
The Commission had repeatedly called on the Polish authorities to check the reliability of the data submitted by its producers, according to the same European source. The instrument provided for the volume of products which may be withdrawn from the market to be increased from 5% to 10% and to compensate producers at a level between 50% and 100%, depending on whether the product is sold in another form, is not harvested or is distributed free of charge. It covered a range of fruit, including apples, pears and plums, and vegetables such as cucumbers and gherkins, cauliflowers and cabbages, carrots and peppers. The Commission added to this emergency mechanism by making a further 30 million euros available to promote European agricultural products, in order to find new market outlets for them. (LC)