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29th Mar 2024

EU agrees compensation deal for bacteria-hit farmers

  • Sweet peppers are among vegetables whose sales have fallen (Photo: Fabrizio Federici)

EU member states have agreed on a €210 million compensation package for farmers whose sales have suffered as a result of the E. coli outbreak in northern Germany.

The deal in Brussels on Tuesday (14 June) will allow the European Commission to pay producers for cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, courgettes, and sweet peppers that have been withdrawn from the market since 26 May.

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Spain, France, Poland and Slovakia voted against the package, insisting that the EU should provide more aid for farmers producing a wider range of fresh vegetables.

The decision foresees paying a maximum rate of 50 percent of the usual producer price in June, although a final figure will only be confirmed on 22 July once member states confirm the volumes that will be covered.

EU farm chief Dacian Ciolos welcomed the deal, saying it underlined the need for interventionist tools in the bloc's common agricultural policy (CAP).

"This crisis again highlights that the market alone is not sufficient for something as strategically important as agriculture. These are elements that we must bear in mind when it comes to fixing the rules and the budget for the CAP after 2013."

Alarmed by media reports of deaths and confused by erroneous announcements concerning the source of the deadly E. coil bacteria, many European consumers have opted to leave vegetables off the menu in recent weeks, leaving farmers with dwindling profits.

Spain says the slump in consumption has cost their producers €225 million a week, while Dutch officials put their figure at €70 million.

Thousands of undocumented migrant workers who flock to Spain for vegetable harvests have now been laid off by struggling farmers, leading to a rise in crime, prostitution and drug use, say charities.

German authorities initially labelled Spanish organic cucumbers as the most likely source of the virulent E. coli strain EHEC-0104, prompting a fierce barrage of criticism from Madrid.

Backtracking German officials subsequently turned their attention towards homegrown bean sprouts, eventually identifying a farm in the northern German village of Bienenbuettel as the source of the outbreak.

Ciolos said he was "optimistic that consumption will pick up very quickly" now that the source had been identified.

The deadly bacteria has so far killed at 37 people, including the first child on Tuesday, while thousands of EU citizens across 14 countries have fallen ill.

Russia's decision to ban all vegetable imports from the EU also added to tensions, with the practicalities of a political agreement at an EU-Russia summit last week to restart sales still unclear.

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