Brussels, 29/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - As previously announced (EUROPE 9162), on 29 March the European Commission adopted a proposal to allow the European Union budget to share up to 50% the costs of market support measures in the eggs and poultry sector linked to a drop in consumption due to fears about avian flu. Parliament will now have to take swift action in providing an opinion on the proposal to allow adoption by the Council by the end of April. Once the legal base has been adopted, Member States will have to submit their proposed measures for Commission approval.
The 1975 regulations constitute the legal basis for support measures to the egg and poultry sector. The only market measures planned are export refunds, although increases in this respect over the last three months have not succeeded in establishing market balance. Compensation measures only exist in cases where there is a case of avian flu on a farm or where farmers are prevented from moving their poultry because of restrictions imposed on veterinary orders. There is currently no possibility to provide EU aid to take account of market problems linked to a fall in sales caused by a loss of consumer confidence. “Because of the gravity of the current market crisis”, the Commission now proposes to co-finance 50 percent of the cost of market support measures linked to a drop in consumption due to risks to public health and animal health. Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture declared, “Each Member State will then be able to design the measures best suited to its particular situation. In my view, the most sensible approach would be to compensate farmers for measures which temporarily reduce production”.