The European Commission will allocate around €250m to programmes distributing free fruit and milk in schools during the next academic year, with the aim of promoting a balanced diet and instilling healthy eating habits.
The Commission announced on Wednesday that Germany would receive €35.7m, France €35.1m, Italy €29.9m, Poland €25.6m and Spain €22.8m for the 2019/20 academic year, making them the countries to receive the highest funding under the scheme.
The level of funding received by each country is based on the number of school children and, in the case of milk distribution, also on having participated in previous programmes.
The member states are permitted to transfer 20-25 per cent of the funds between each of the two programmes and can also supplement European funding with national financing.
Approximately 159,000 schools participated in the scheme in 2017/18, benefiting some 20m students. Around 255,500 tonnes of fruit and vegetables and 178m tonnes of milk were distributed last year.
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