The European Commission has given the green light to 14 promotional programmes for fresh fruit and vegetables in 11 EU member states, which it hopes will help farmers recover from the effects of the E coli crisis this year.
The total budget for the programmes, which will run for three years and focus on the EU's internal market as well as outside markets, is €34m, of which the EU will contribute half.
The rest of the funding will come from professional organisations and governments.
Dacian Ciolos, European commissioner for agriculture and rural development, said: "This additional envelope comes in addition to the emergency measures put in place during the summer to help the fruit and vegetables sector come to terms with the E coli crisis."
