Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development supported, on Tuesday 2 June, the continuation of the Community programme for the distribution of fruit and vegetables in schools over the period 2028-2034 of the European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (see EUROPE 13844/7).
Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the proposal on the common market organisation (CMO) after 2027, supported maintaining the school food distribution programme. He nevertheless expressed strong concerns about the future of these schemes, which he believes are threatened by the logic of single national funds.
In his view, these concerns are well founded: national administrations tend to favour the instruments that are easiest to manage, in particular aid per hectare, even when this is less effective. He argued that Member States should be required to maintain these targeted programmes, which bring genuine European added value.
As regards sectoral interventions, Éric Sargiacomo said he was in favour of reintroducing processed fruit and vegetables into the scope of the CMO, while calling for transitional situations - especially for unrecognised producer organisations - not to be prolonged indefinitely. He took a similar line on organisations without transfer of ownership, particularly in the dairy sector, considering that they must evolve in order to play their full economic role.
On agricultural prices, the MEP supported the objective that prices must cover production costs. He nevertheless considered it difficult to achieve this through contractual means, so as to preserve freedom of contract. The rapporteur announced that he wants to support this objective by other means, in particular by raising CAP intervention prices, which are currently too low and cover only around 50% of production costs. He considered that this level should be raised to at least 80%, so that it becomes a genuine safety net for farmers.
Éric Sargiacomo also came out in favour of scrapping import tolerances for residues of pesticides banned in the European Union, in the name of reciprocity of standards and the fight against unfair competition. He nevertheless called for checking the consistency of this approach with the regulation currently under discussion aimed at simplifying food safety rules.
Lastly, he supported the proposal to involve regions and local authorities in defining security of supply plans, considering that they have a key role to play in building up and managing strategic stocks.
Plenary vote in early 2027. Éric Sargiacomo will present his draft report on 29 June in the Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The deadline for tabling amendments has been set for 15 July. The vote in the Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is expected to take place on 1 December 2026, with a view to a vote in plenary session of the European Parliament in late January 2027.
Daniel Buda (EPP, Romanian) asked the European Commission not to provide for funds for the CMO managed at Member State level, “because that would lead to market fragmentation”. He also called for the school food distribution programme to be financed at an adequate level and directly by the European Union. Moreover, in his view, the issue of food stocks is of growing strategic importance. In the same vein, Claudiu Târziu (ECR, Romanian) stressed that “the European Union school programme is very important” and that its financing must remain integrated into the common agricultural policy (CAP). Its transfer to national or regional plans could, in his view, reduce the predictability of support and widen disparities between Member States.
Position of the European Committee of the Regions. The Commission for Natural Resources (NAT) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted, on Monday 1 June, the draft opinion presented by Italian Alessio Mammi (PES) on the reform of the CMO.
Speaking on Tuesday before the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, the rapporteur called for the CMO Regulation to remain “a European instrument, financed 100% by the European Union” and not be left to the discretion of Member States with financing or minimum co-financing of 30%. “If Member States are left to choose the level of CMO funding, strong disparities between them will be created”, he warned.
Mr Mammi also asked for the operational programmes of producer organisations expiring after 2028 to be renewed and funded. He supported the European Parliament rapporteur’s position in favour of creating storage measures for foodstuffs and agricultural products in the event of emergencies or food security problems.
Among the other requests made by the European Committee of the Regions are notably: - financing, by the CMO, of the first processing stage of fresh products and maintaining the funds devoted to research; - the obligation for agricultural products to be purchased at a price at least equivalent to the cost of production, in order to guarantee farmers a fair income and a fair price. The CoR’s draft opinion (https://aeur.eu/f/m54 ) will be adopted in the CoR plenary in October. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)