The Commission proposed, on 24 January 2007, a reform of the EU fruit and vegetable (F&V) market. The aim of the reform was to bring the F&V sector "into closer line with the rest of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy", to improve the sector's competitiveness and increase consumption.
To boost the use of fruits and vegetables, the Commission proposes to increase the EU co-financing rate of F&V promotion to 60% when the activities target school-age children and adolescents. Currently, this co-financing rate is set to a maximum level of 50%.
It also recommends that farmers' 100% EU co-financed market withdrawals of the perishable foods that are not selling in sufficient quantities, should be distributed free to charitable organisations, schools, other public-education institutions and children's holiday camps.
The proposed measures are based on the statistics that only two of the EU-27, Greece and Italy, currently reach the 400-gramme daily intake of F&V recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to WHO, if consumed daily in sufficient amounts, F&V could help prevent major diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers.
Freshfel Europe, the European Fresh Produce Association, welcomes the proposed changes but states that these measures should "only be considered as a first step towards reinforcing the European promotion policy for F&V comprising youngsters and adults alike and considering new eating habits".
