Copa-Cogeca has sent a letter urged EU Farm Commissioner Dacian Ciolos to maintain the current EU fruit and vegetables regime after 2013, stressing that a system based on producer organisations such as cooperatives has 'worked well'.
In the letter sent today (19 April), the agri-cooperative body proposed improvements to the scheme and called on the Commission to release proposals by July.
“The present regime has worked well,' said Copa-Cogeca secretary-general Pekka Pesonen. 'A large majority of the answers from the EU Commission public consultation on review of the support scheme for fruits and vegetables last summer favoured continuing strengthening producer organisations, operational funds and operational programmes.
'Fruit and vegetable producer organisations (FVPO), like cooperatives, have allowed producer organisations to modernise, to improve the quality of their products, to better protect the environment, and to improve the working conditions of workers,' he explained. 'The scheme is based on EU aid which is granted as a proportion of the value of the marketed production of each producer organisation.
Pesonen outlined that the sector was of 'vital importance' to the EU economy, representing nearly 17 per cent of the total value of agriculture produce in the EU, and called it a 'key driver' for growth and employment in the bloc's rural areas.
“Producers who are members of producer organisations come out much better in times of crisis than those working for themselves,' he continued. 'It is proof that the system works well and must be kept, and improved, after 2013. New EU Commission reports also confirm that agri-cooperatives play a vital role in helping farmers to capture a better share of the value added in the food chain and in strengthening their positioning on the market.'
Outlining key points to be included in the regime, Pesonen added: “The specific definition, the recognition criteria and the statuses of fruit and vegetable organisations currently in place must be maintained. The upcoming Commission proposals must allow producer organisations, operational funds and operational programmes to remain a cornerstone of the fruit and vegetable support scheme in order to maintain a viable sector and generate employment in EU rural areas”.
