Reforms to the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for fruit and vegetables were adopted by the European Commission in January. They would bring to an end the current CMO, which is based partly on providing support to producers on the basis of quantity delivered to the processing industry, and instead transferring to a single payment scheme.
The idea is to boost competitiveness in the sector by giving producer bodies more influence, safeguarding the environment and boosting consumption - all the while remaining budget neutral.
The compromise paper, for which parliament voted on Thursday with 526 votes to 95 and 32 abstentions, aims at flexible forms of farm aid tailored to the needs of different types of fruit and veg, as well as the creation of a special crisis fund to boost competitiveness.
In adopting the report Spanish MEP Maria Isabel Salinas Garcia (PES) said that the Parliament gave its approval to the general thrust of the reform, but it believes it is possible to provide ore flexible aid, better tailored to producers' needs, especially in crisis periods.
For fruit and veg canners, freezers, jam and pickle makers and the rest of the processing industry, there are major concerns that the reform will impact on their raw material supply, since the shift will make it more lucrative for farmers to switch to other crops rather than continue growing produce for processing.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development told FoodNavigator.com that it is hoped an agreement will be reached by the council when it comes to vote at its meeting in Luxembourg this week - but however the compromise paper will no doubt lead to a series of discussions.
The spokesperson said that will the council takes this into account as much as possible, the parliament's amendments are not binding and it will not necessarily come down on the same side.
Agriculture minister Marian Fischer Boel said in April that she was willing to consider a short transition period for the ending of processing aids.
She reinforced her position in a speech on the eve of the parliamentary vote last week, in which she said that such a transition was seen as particularly relevant for tomatoes.
"I am open to accept such a transitional period in which Member States could decide to grant an aid per hectare. Nevertheless one should bear in mind that full decoupling must be both the precondition and the end goal."
However she was less open to the idea of a crisis management fund, saying:
"I cannot however accept the idea of a separate fund for crisis management and the need of defining what should be understood by "crisis" either. A separate fund would result in a substantial budget increase and it will moreover not contribute to simplification."
She said that the use of a percentage of the national reserve for crisis management for this would not be acceptable, since the reserve was created to accommodate particular situations in the framework of the Single Payment Scheme and it is not appropriate to devote this budget to other objectives or measures.
"But I understand the calls for more flexibility in order to facilitate crisis management," she said. "Rather than making a separate structure I will therefore positively consider adding more flexibility to the structure proposed in our initial Commission proposal in order to make the scheme as effective as possible and to avoid an important decline in prices."
