The European Commission has reportedly ruled out providing any extra financial aid for outlying regions of the EU, including the Canary Islands and Madeira, to compensate for the lowering of Europe’s banana tariff regime, claiming that they already receive “sufficient” support.
A spokesman for the EC told Spanish news agency EFE that banana production on the islands was already “covered” by existing support mechanisms, under which growers on the Canaries receive €141m each year, as part of a €279m annual European banana fund.
“At the moment, we don’t believe that a new settlement is justified because there are no existing problems (in the market as a result of possible changes due to the lowering of the import tariff),” said the spokesman.
However, the European authorities have already agreed a further financial package for Europe’s former African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) colonies to help them adapt to the lower entry tariff for banana imports from Latin America.
The EC announced earlier this week that seven African countries and three Caribbean nations, including the Dominican Republic and Cameroon, would receive €190m in support over the next four years to adjust to the new EU import regime.
Under an agreement reached with Latin American countries last year, the EU will reduce its current banana tariff for the nations’ exports to Europe from the current €175 per tonne to €148 this year, before being further decreased to €114 per tonne by 2017.
Europe has also reached trade deals with Colombia and Peru to reduce the banana tariff for the Andean nations’ still further to €75 per tonne by 2020.
