“With this crisis package, the Commission has made a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. Without fresh money we cannot address the deep and serious problems that the European farm and food sector faces, millions of jobs are jeopardised all over Europe”, stressed Dorfmann.
“We ask Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski to come to Parliament with stronger, well-funded and more effective measures than the ones presented last week”, he said, ahead of tomorrow’s debate in Parliament. The Commissioner will present the package of crisis measures to the Agriculture Committee on Thursday.
“Some rules of the private storage schemes need to be reviewed. Requirements for operators are way too strict and exclude some products like veal, curd cheese or sheep and goat meat which have already been stored. The measures fail to target those who would need it the most”, said Sander.
“It is clear that the Commission has not yet fully taken stock of the crisis in the wine sector. We need more regulatory flexibility and a true financial response from the EU to help winemakers while the closing of restaurants has cut European wine consumption by a third and on top of that, exports are expected to fall significantly. This applies equally to the sales of flowers and live plants, which have almost stopped. These two sectors together employ three million Europeans”, she concluded.
The measures require Parliament’s agreement to enter into force.
