The European Association of Banana Producers (APEB) has appealed directly to European Commission president José Manuel Durão Barroso to increase EU financial support to growers by €30m.
At a meeting held yesterday (20 June) in Brussels, representatives from APEB urged additional annual funds for the EU’s Posei programme, which supports producers in Europe’s outlying territories, to ensure the future of their sector.
The appeal comes after the EU began lowering the banana import tariff for Latin American bananas, which the association argues has flooded European markets with cheap fruit, jeopardising the survival of production in the Canary Islands and other regions.
Speaking after the meeting, APEB president Leopoldo Cólogan told Spanish daily El Día that the association had presented a study which “revealed the absolute necessity” that the sector receives €30m in extra support.
This, he argued, was needed to “counteract” the arrival of “ever more cheaper bananas in the EU due to the reduction in the tariff”.
“At the moment, Europe is being flooded with extremely cheap bananas,” said Cólogan.
APEB is currently urging the European Parliament to back a report by Canary Islands MEP Gabriel Mato that calls for the allocation of greater funds to European banana producers under the Posei programme.
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