Brussels, 08/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Union must do more to help producers of fruit and vegetables to join forces within producer organisations and improve crisis measures.
This is the view taken by the committee on agriculture of the European Parliament on Tuesday 5 May, when it adopted (37 votes in favour and 6 abstentions) the report by Nuno Melo (EPP, Portugal) on the implementation of the provisions regarding producer organisations, operational funds and operational programmes in the fruit and vegetables sector (provisions in force since the reform of 2007).
The MEPs argue that although there has been progress since the 2007 reform, the degree of organisation between producers remains low on average, and a long way below the EU average in a number of countries (particularly the new member states). They stress that this problem needs to be resolved, for instance by simplifying the rules to encourage more producers to join producer organisations. The MEPs feel that the fruit and vegetables regime of the EU requires further improvement.
The committee on agriculture calls for increased support to producer organisations in order to provide greater incentives to merge existing bodies or create new ones (at both national and international level). The MEPs also want better checks to be carried out on the support for setting up new organisations, in order to ensure that it will increase the income of its members. The Commission is called upon to bring back European Union aid for the investments of newly created fruit and vegetable producer organisations (without this support, newly created organisations struggle to obtain the official state recognition which they need to do their work). The Commission is also called upon to further increase the effectiveness of the producer organisations, as part of the simplification of the CAP, by concentrating supply, particularly given their central commercial role within the fruit and vegetables sector.
The MEPs reiterate their grave concern at the fact that currently, just 7.5% of farmers in the EU are under the age of 35, and argue that the creation of efficient producer organisations which are attractive to young people could reverse this unsustainable demographic trend.
Tackling unfair practices. Unfair commercial practices and the pressure brought to bear on producers by large retail chains are the main obstacles to farmers earning a decent income, in the view of the MEPs. They call upon the Commission and the member states to redouble their efforts to tackle these unfair practices, by: - laying down clear European rules on good practice in the food supply chain; - adopting measures to encourage the direct marketing of products from producer organisations; - and encouraging the development of local markets for the distribution of fruit and vegetables.
Better crisis response tools. The committee on agriculture stresses that the application of the current market withdrawal mechanism has proved to be limited. It argues the need to improve the crisis management measures by increasing the percentage of financial assistance granted by the Union, changing the upper limits of aid for the withdrawal of products, increasing the volumes eligible for withdrawal measures and improving support, in terms of transport and packaging, for the free distribution of fruit and vegetable.
The Commission is also called upon to consider making a contribution to mutual funds, to provide better protection for farmers in the event of market crises which cause substantial drops in income. However, the MEPs stress that these funds should never come from the budget allocated to agriculture and rural development, if the crisis is caused by issues unconnected with the sector, as in the case of the Russian ban on agricultural products from the EU. The MEPs also request that under these circumstances, the EU support measures remain in place for as long as it takes until the normal market situation is fully re-established.
Lastly, the committee on agriculture recommends: - incentives to raise the level of research and innovation in producer organisations, to help them to become more competitive and able to deal with the killer diseases that are damaging European agriculture; - help these organisations to increase their exports, for instance by removing customs duty and plant health barriers through trade negotiation; - reinforce the aid schemes for the distribution of fruit, vegetables and milk in schools; - rationalise controls and apply the principle of proportionality to sanctions. (Lionel Changeur)