Brussels, 04/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - As only “a fraction” of the EU aid scheme has been used to help European producers of fruit and vegetables hit by the Russian embargo, Copa-Cogeca issued a press release on Friday 31 October, in which it calls for a new scheme to be introduced in 2015. The agricultural organisations are also calling for additional funds for all of the sectors affected.
Copa-Cogeca expressed its disappointment at the “early” suspension, decided upon by the European Commission, of the first aid regime designed to support European producers of fruit and vegetables hit by the Russian ban on agricultural products from the EU. Copa-Cogeca is calling for the unused funds (more than €85 million) to be used to create, in January 2015, “a new scheme to prevent the market from collapsing altogether, as the season will be at its peak and production volumes higher”.
Talks at the management committee have revealed that less than €40 million will be spent on withdrawing products from the market for the purposes of free distribution, for non-food uses or for green harvesting. Initially, the Commission had earmarked €125 million. It is worth noting that the Commission has set in place a new aid regime (€165 million) for perishable fruit and vegetables.
Pig meat sector. Usually, Russia absorbs 24% of the total value of European exports of pig meat. However, the sector has been on its knees for months as a result of the embargo. Copa-Cogeca feels that measures should be taken to improve the situation, particularly for certain specific products, such as fat and by-products. Promotion campaigns for pig meat should also be set in place to support new outlets for these products, the agricultural organisations state.
Beef meat. As European exports of beef meat to Russia usually start in November, “support is also needed to find new market outlets for this produce, to, for example, Turkey, to tackle non-tariff barriers to trade and ensure that European beef starts entering the US market again after they agreed to lift the export ban”, the agricultural organisations of the EU recommend.
Milk. In the milk and dairy produce sector, buyers are putting off their purchasing decisions for as long as they can, due to the instability of the European market. Copa-Cogeca is also “seriously disappointed” that the European Commission decided at the end of September to suspend the temporary private storage aid scheme for cheese. “It should still be open for countries severely affected by the ban”, according to Copa-Cogeca. Given the gravity of the situation, the member states should have flexibility “at national level to recover the milk super-levy bill (fine in the event of dairy quota overrun) from those hit by it”, Copa-Cogeca adds. Finally, the low EU reference price for milk could drag EU milk prices down to a level well below production costs. The milk intervention price “must consequently be updated urgently to take account of rising production costs”, Copa-Cogeca argues.
Letter to the Commission. In a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, the new President of the European Commission, Copa-Cogeca calls for “additional aid from outside the CHP budget to be allocated to fund these targeted measures, since the dispute is of a political nature and was not the farmers' or agri-cooperatives' fault in the first place”. Copa-Cogeca stresses that it is vital that “sufficient resources are allocated in the 2015 EU budget to fund this unprecedented crisis, which has hit the EU farm sector hard”. (LC)