€113 million is the total quantity allocated for the 2012 programme for the supply of food for the most deprived persons in the European Union. In recent years, €500 million was granted but a ruling by the Court of Justice in April stating that the current regulation requires the food covered by this scheme to come from EU public stocks. This is the reason why the 2012 scheme is exclusively based on all the available existing intervention stocks.

Since December 1987, the EU’s “Food Distribution programme for the Most Deprived Persons of the Community” (MDP) has been in place, when the Council adopted the rules for releasing public intervention stocks of agricultural products to Member States wishing to use them as food aid for the most deprived persons of the Community. In the mid-1990s, in order to ensure continuity of supply, the MDP was modified to make it possible to supplement intervention stocks with market purchases. The basis of the programme remained intervention, until the stocks have been run down to a normal level. Ongoing reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have gradually returned intervention to a safety net role.

Member States wishing to participate communicate each year their needs to the Commission in terms of quantities of the products available in intervention stocks because its participation is voluntary. Actually, in 2012 twenty Member States are taking part. The Commission defines a budget ceiling for each participating Member State and a list of products to be withdrawn from public stocks or purchased on the market, using the budget allocated and based on such data and Eurostat data on poverty.

In 2008, this potential problem was foresaw and proposed to change the scheme. Despite support from the European Parliament, this remained deadlocked in Council. The Commission came forward once again with a revised proposal last September. Unfortunately this also remains blocked in Council. Therefore, 2012 scheme scheme is based on all the available existing intervention stocks (162,000 tonnes of cereals and 54,000 tonnes of Skimmed Milk Powder in intervention).