Common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables and in processed fruit and vegetables; aid scheme for producers of certain citrus fruits

The committee adopted the report by Salvador JOVÉ PERES (EUL/NGL, E) amending, under the consultation procedure, the proposal amending the COM in fruit and vegetables. While agreeing with the Commission's diagnosis of the sector's problems, the rapporteur did not accept its solutions and feared that the situation of fruit and vegetable growers would deteriorate further as a result of the proposal. In its amendments, the committee wanted to improve the conditions for recognising and financing producer organisations according to standard criteria to ensure that they had easier access to funding. It sought modest increases in production thresholds to bring them into line with actual production and potential demand (ensuring that they were neither too low nor too high) and called for the reinstatement of the pre-1996 levels of aid for processing. It also wanted the intervention safety net restored in a "serious crisis" and four products added to the list of those eligible for intervention. Other amendments sought to include support for hazelnuts, nuts and locust beans. The committee also called on the Commission to submit a report on the functioning of the new Regulation and reform proposals by 30 June 2001 and proposals to match thresholds to actual production and to demand by 30 June 2003 and every three years thereafter.�