Luxembourg, April 16 - Europe's farm chief offered some leeway on Monday in her plan to reform the vast fruit and vegetables sector, hoping to cushion the blow for processors making products ranging from jams to preserves and pickles.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has insisted on decoupling subsidies for producing and processing fruit and vegetables: EU jargon for breaking the link between the amount of production and and the amount of subsidy received.
EU policy for the sector, worth around 1.27 billion euros ($1.72 billion) a year, distinguishes between subsidies paid for fresh fruit and vegetables, and processed products.
Its budget covers dozens of products including nuts, fruits like melons, grapes, pineapples and quinces, and vegetables such as onions, mushrooms, radishes and cucumbers.
Speaking after a meeting of EU farm ministers, Fischer Boel indicated that processing subsidies might be phased out, rather than get scrapped straightaway. The implication, officials said, was that the same idea could be applied to production subsidies.
"I would be willing to look into the idea of a transitional period for (ending) processing aids. But it would have to be short, a very transitional period," she told a news conference. "There seems to be broad support for the idea of the reform proposal, to bring it (the sector) in line with decoupled payments under the 2003 reform," Fischer Boel said. "I think we can now see the contours of an agreement in June."
The European Union is a major player in world horticulture and grows a huge range of products, from the cabbages and turnips of northern Europe to the citrus fruits of Greece.
"It's clear that some flexibility will be needed," Fischer Boel said. "But the final goal has to be total decoupling."
She hinted that the phase-out period might be similar to what was agreed for the EU's reform of the tobacco regime, a four-year transition starting in 2006 towards full decoupling.
Greece was keen to retain coupled subsidies for fruit and vegetable processors, officials said, while countries like Britain, Denmark and Sweden were opposed to any kind of transitional period before full decoupling.
"The overall goal is to have full decoupling but there would probably be different phase-out periods for different products," one EU official said, adding that some countries were concerned over how certain so-called sensitive products would be treated.
Italy and Portugal mentioned tomatoes, while Spain cited citrus and various other fruits, for example, he said.