A special promotion programme for fruit and vegetables has been adopted by the Commission to address the difficulties faced by this sector following the E.coli crisis. The objetive is to promote European fresh products on the internal market and in third countries.

On 19 of July, the European Commission launched a promotion campaign in all EU Member States to win back consumer trust in fruit and vegetables. The campaign consists of announcements in print media as well as an audiovisual news package distributed free of charge to TV stations across the EU and neighbouring countries.

The budget allocated for this initiative is of €15 million over 3 years. Professional organisations may submit to their national authorities specific programmes for fresh fruit and vegetables in the single market and in third countries by 16 August. Member States have to send their list of selected programmes by 15 September to the Commission with a view to have a decision on the adopted programmes by 15 November 2011.

In addition, the Commission has opened a call for proposals in order to inform better about the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In particular, the aim of these information measures must be to ensure better public understanding of the CAP, its history and development, past but also future in the context of the proposals for reform, both in the country concerned and at European level, stimulate public interest, particularly in urban areas, in the role of agriculture and rural development in our society by promoting farmers’ multiple roles. The deadline for the presentation of proposals is the 30 of September.