| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2014) 32 final (30.01.14) |
| Publication Date | 30/01/2014 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Single Common Market Organisation Regulation) provides for a legal and financial framework governing the distribution of selected agricultural products to children in schools through the School Milk Scheme and the School Fruit Scheme. The two schemes have developed independently and in different time periods. The School Milk Scheme dates back to the creation of the Common Market Organisation for milk in 1968 and has been implemented since 1977. The School Fruit Scheme is a more recent programme that emerged as a political commitment in the context of the 2007 reform of the Common Market Organisation for fruit and vegetables. The current schemes operate within different legal and financial frameworks, and have some important differences in their design and functioning. Both school schemes were established in order to promote consumption of fruit and vegetables and milk products, which are important sectors for European agriculture, each representing approximately 15% of the value of European Union (EU) agricultural output. Besides their economic importance, they are beneficial in the public health context and are suitable for distribution to school children. The rationale which led to the establishment of the two school schemes is still relevant in the current context of declining consumption of fruit and vegetables and milk products. Despite different health and agricultural promotion efforts both at national and EU level to increase consumption, the declining trends have not been reversed, particularly for fresh fruit and vegetables and drinking milk. This situation is exacerbated amongst others by the modern consumption trends towards highly processed foods which are often high in added sugars, salt and fat, and will be boosted by younger age groups. Despite the positive embedding of the current schemes in schools and the acknowledgement of their relevance, conclusions drawn from different reports and external evaluations highlight certain weaknesses in their design and inefficiencies in their functioning. The CAP 2020 already contains important elements that are expected to solve some of the identified problems, in particular through significant changes to the financing of the School Fruit Scheme and strengthening of its educational dimension. The new requirement under the School Milk Scheme that participating Member States should draw up a strategy will help focus the implementation of the scheme, as is already the case for the School Fruit Scheme. However, the Commission CAP 2020 proposal was adopted before the external evaluations of the current schemes were finalised. This proposal aims not only to address the endogenous problems inherent to the functioning of the schemes in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness, but it also aims at providing a more unified policy response to ensure that they are capable of meeting the long-term objectives and effectively respond to the external challenges. This is in line with the ECA recommendation that "there should be greater coordination and synergy between the two schemes in order to ensure a globally consistent approach to nutrition and that the programmes are managed efficiently". With this proposal, the Commission also responds to the reporting obligation stemming from Article 225(c) of the Regulation concerning the possibility of extending the scope of the school schemes to include olive oil and table olives. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2014:032:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry, Health |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
