Copa & Cogeca sent a letter this week to EU Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan thanking him for his initiative to boost EU withdrawal prices for fruit and vegetables but called for the orange and tomato prices to be raised and the list of eligible products to be expanded.
In the letter, Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen stressed “Copa & Cogeca sincerely thank you for this initiative to boost EU withdrawal prices for fruit and vegetables to reflect market realities, especially in this difficult economic climate and with severe EU budget pressure”.
“But we call for the EU withdrawal price to be increased for all eligible products, especially for oranges and tomatoes, in simplification of the EU fruit and vegetables regime. For many other products like apples & pears, cauliflowers, peaches and nectarines, the proposed amounts are sufficient. We also call for the new amounts to apply retroactively from July 18. And we want to see the list of eligible products expanded”, Pesonen added.
The detailed text governing this is set to be discussed on August 25 with the Member States Experts Group on Agricultural Markets.
