European Commission to invest over €200 million in promoting community’s agri-food

The European Commission has allocated €200.9 million in 2020 to fund promotional activities for EU agri-food products at home and abroad. The 2020 promotion policy work programme adopted by the Commission outlines the main priorities for support. EU policy on the promotion of agri-food products is designed to help the sector take advantage of the expanding and increasingly dynamic global agri-food market, raise awareness on quality schemes including organic produce and help producers should they face market disturbances.

Agriculture and rural development Commissioner Phil Hogan said:

“Europe’s reputation in the world for agri-food products is unparalleled. The EU is not the top world agri-food exporter by accident. Our promotion policy with an ever-increased budget supports EU producers in making their products known both in the EU and outside but also in facing market difficulties by raising more awareness on their produce. The trade agreements in place also create the conditions to increase their exports to high-growing markets. The recent conclusion of the EU-China bilateral agreement on geographical indications is yet another example of the Commission’s work to create opportunities for producers and high-quality EU products.”

In 2020, more than half of the budget (€118 million) will go towards campaigns pursuing markets outside the EU with high-growth potential, such as Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico and the United States. Eligible sectors include dairy and cheese, table olives and olive oil and wines. The selected campaigns are expected to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of EU agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share in these targeted countries.

Campaigns will also inform EU and global consumers of the various EU quality schemes and labels such as geographical indications or organic products. An additional focus of the campaigns will also be to highlight the high safety and quality standards, as well as the diversity and traditional aspects of EU agri-food products. Finally, within the EU, the focus will be on promoting healthy eating and increase, in the framework of balanced diets, the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The calls for proposals for the upcoming 2020 campaigns will be published in January 2020. A wide range of bodies, such as trade organisations, producer organisations and agri-food groups responsible for promotion activities are eligible to apply for funding and submit their proposals.

So-called ‘simple’ programmes can be submitted by one or more organisations from the same EU country; the ‘multi’ programmes come from at least two national organisations from at least two member states, or from one or more European organisations. For 2020, €100 million is allocated to simple programmes, while €91.4 million will go towards multi-programmes. An additional €9.5 million is set aside for the Commission’s own initiatives. Those include participation in fairs and communication campaigns, as well as diplomatic offensives led by the agriculture and rural development European Commissioner and accompanied by a business delegation. These initiatives will be further reinforced by an additional €17,2 million available from the 2019 multi-promotion programmes. This represents additional support for cheeses and butter, olive oil and table olives in a challenging global market.