23/01/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 23 January, Italy welcomed the willingness of the European Commission to give consideration to the hitherto banned possibility of planting new olive trees in the areas of southern Italy affected by the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium that has devastated olive groves in Apulia. This would provide a future for producers in the Lecce province who have had no income for the last three years, said Roberto Moncalvo, President of Coldiretti. Italian Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina called for the repeal of Article 5 of Implementing Decision 789/2015 (measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Xylella fastidiosa) which bans the planting “of host plants in infected zones …, except in sites which are physically protected”. Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis is believed to have given a positive response to the Italian request. (LC)