LUXEMBOURG: Germany and Spain welcome the announcement by the European Commission to increase its compensation fund to farmers hit by an E.coli outbreak

Record ID: 572477

  • Title: LUXEMBOURG: Germany and Spain welcome the announcement by the European Commission to increase its compensation fund to farmers hit by an E.coli outbreak
  • Date: 8th June 2011
  • Summary: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG (JUNE 7, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN UNION (EU) COUNCIL BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 23rd June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Luxembourg, Luxembourg
  • Country: Luxembourg
  • Topics: Business,International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZG2FKEIQZ64S84L3RG5NMR9W
  • Story Text: The European Union's top farm official said on Tuesday (June 7), he was prepared to increase substantially his initial offer of 150 million euros (220 million U.S. dollars (USD) in financial aid for farmers hit by a deadly E.coli outbreak.
    Ahead of a meeting of EU farm ministers in Luxembourg, EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said the European Commission was prepared to offer up to 150 million euros in compensation to farmers hit by the crisis.
    "I have been engaged into reviewing this figure. That is to say the level of compensation and the global package. And we came back with better proposal with substantial improvement. Something substantial, balanced and justified by the current situation," Ciolos told a news conference after the meeting.
    Under the compensation plan, producers of fruit and vegetables such as cucumbers, lettuces, tomatoes and courgettes will receive a share of the total value of products they withdraw from the market and destroy, following a collapse in consumer demand.
    The Commission initially proposed to reimburse up to 30 percent of total losses, but nine EU states including Germany, France and Spain demanded compensation for 100 percent.
    Ciolos would not say by how much the Commission would improve its offer, but he ruled out compensating farmers for 100 percent of their losses.
    "Commissioner Ciolos has made some proposal he wants to further improve. It is important for us that the aid is deployed quickly. I will fly to Germany together with Commissioner Dalli. I have stressed to my colleagues that we will do everything possible in order to find the cause as quickly as possible. Tomorrow we will have a joint meeting of consumer and health ministers together with Commissioner Dalli where all parties involved will be at the table," said the German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner.
    A revised proposal is expected to be drafted by Wednesday, and will be voted by a committee of member state experts on Tuesday (June 7), EU officials said.
    Once approved, EU financial aid could be released to farmers by the end of June.
    The outbreak of E.coli in northern Germany has crippled exports as uncertainty about the cause of the killer bug -- most recently attributed to eating organic bean sprouts -- added to the difficulties faced by farmers, distributors and retailers.
    German scientists found no traces of E.coli at an organic vegetable farm believed to be the source of the outbreak, but said this did not mean their suspicions were wrong.
    Even though first lab tests on bean sprouts from the farm were negative, officials said they were not surprised because any contaminated produce could have been long since distributed.
    Aigner said Germany was still under pressure to find the source.
    "We are constantly looking for the cause. We have created a special task force. We have taken about a thousand samples. Especially the farm has been searched through and through. Now we have to wait for the results. But I say it again; there were clear references for the scions. We had to analyse them and we are still evaluating the research," she said.
    Spanish fruit and vegetable producers have been hardest hit by the collapse in sales during the crisis, after German officials initially blamed cucumbers from Spain for causing the outbreak that has so far killed 23 people.
    Spain has estimated its own losses at 200 million euros per week since Germany blamed its produce for the outbreak. The source of the infection has not yet been identified.
    Agriculture Minister, Rosa Aguilar said she tried to highlight the shortfall in the previous compensation figure compared to the losses suffered by Spain.
    "As you can imagine I have tried to highlight Spain in a very special way. Which has been fully harmed if you bear in mind that the agriculture sector is leader in imports within the European Union. We have been singled out unjustly and inappropriately, and as such, the damage caused has been extraordinary," Aguilar told journalists at a news briefing after the meeting.
    EU fresh produce association Freshfel Europe said the latest estimates put the weekly economic damage at about 80 million euros in the Netherlands, 20 million Germany, 4 million in Belgium, 3 million in Portugal, along with 200 million in Spain.
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