Brussels, 26/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission endorsed 15 programmes submitted by EU Member States to sing the praises in the wider world of European food and drink. The EU budget will provide EUR 13 mil for publicity campaigns on wine, dairy products, meat, flowers and fruit juice, covering up to 50% of total costs.
The publicity and public relations campaigns are targetted on the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, China and Switzerland. The EU Member States whose programmes have been accepted for funding are Greece (two programmes), Italy (five programmes), France and Spain (a joint programme), Cyprus (two programmes), the Netherlands (three programmes), Poland (one programme) and Lithuania (one programme). Most are three-year programmes starting in 2005.