The European Commission has announced it has agreed a revised deal which will provide €210m in compensation funding to farmers affected by the recent E.coli crisis.
With scientists now suggesting the source of the deadly outbreak, which has now led to 26 deaths, may never be identified, it is already clear that the damage done to the European fresh produce industry – in both financial and reputational terms – is considerable.
The revised compensation plan, unveiled by EU agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos after he was effectively told to go back to the drawing board by European horticulture industry leaders, will see producers get 50 per cent of the market price for products they were unable to sell.
It is understood that the scheme will be available to producers of a number of salad vegetables across the EU, including cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.
'We are doing as much as we can with the current financial means available,' said Ciolos said, who admitted – for the second time in two days – that the full cost could rise further. 'We don't know how things are going to evolve. We cannot predict. At the end of June we will see where we stand.'
The proposed deal is due to be ratified at a meeting of officials on 14 June, although it is clear that Spain – originally accused of supplying contaminated cucumbers – and other key producing countries may well veto the deal in the hope of achieving a further rise.
Producer reaction
Reacting to new EU Commission proposals outlining emergency measures to help all EU fruit and vegetable growers survive in the wake of the e-coli crisis, producers' union Copa-Cogeca welcomed the move, but said it regretted 'the low level of budget allocated', warning it would not be enough to recover what it described as 'substantial losses' for those producers.
The organisation's secretary-general Pekka Pesonen insisted more funds must be made available to help pull the sector out of the crisis.
'Savings in agriculture expenditure have been made this year from the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy and this must be used to assist all growers and producers organisations hit by this crisis,' he said. 'The emergency funds should be distributed equitably among the Member States where the damage has occurred.'
Pesonen added: 'Marketing costs that POs did not charge for, for unsold lots, must also be recovered. Since 26 May, vegetables have been sold below the amounts fixed to support market withdrawals. The difference between the sale prices and the amounts of support for market withdrawals must be recovered too.'
