In a letter written to the European Commission last week (March 20th), Pekka Pesonen, general director of Copa-Cogeca, the European agricultural union, said that average prices from some fruits and vegetables are ‘still critical’, and are significantly less than the average of the past years.” and he also stressed that “Action taken so far to help producers cope with the severe impact of the Russian export ban is a step forward but average prices for some fruit and vegetables are still critical, being significantly less than the average of the past years. Market prices do not even cover production costs and producers are experiencing serious liquidity problems”.
The withdrawal of products from the market, which are then distributed free, depends on the demands of charities and storage capacity and it is reaching its limits. That is why EU needs to increase compensation for withdrawals for other uses like for compost to take into account transport costs and free up some storage space for the upcoming season. Copa-Cogeca is also calling for the Commission to introduce a 5000 tonne quota per member state to use accordingly.