March 30, 2006

EU to co-finance compensation to chicken farmers
 

Individual EU governments will have to pay half the cost of programmes they undertake to restore confidence in the poultry sector, while the European Commission pays for the other half, the EU executive said on Wednesday.

The EU is currently unable to provide aid to compensate farmers who have suffered lost sales caused by a loss of consumer confidence, the European Commission said.

However, the Commission proposes to change EU regulations so as to co-finance 50 percent of other market support measures such as compensating farmers willing to reduce production.

Current EU laws only allow shared compensation when there is a case of bird flu on a farm or where farmers are imposed with transport restrictions.

The change in regulations will have to be approved by the European Parliament and by EU farm ministers in late April.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has urged countries to cut down on production, as it is the most viable approach currently, Boel said in a statement.

If the regulations could be changed successfully, EU states would submit individual plans for the approval of the European Commission.

Some EU countries, like France and Poland, have already outlined their compensation demands.

France wants the EU to subsidise private storage of poultry meat, compensate for condemned stocks and also for early poultry slaughter if export markets collapse suddenly.