The Reform of the CMO in Fruits and Vegetables: A Holistic Approach

The main characteristics of EU's market in fruits and vegetables are trend towards overproduction, price fluctuations, and relatively low protection and public support. The key instruments of the CMO are processing aids and support to Operational Funds. The current regulation has been more successful in encouraging improvements in quality and marketing than in stabilising prices and guaranteeing adequate income levels, mainly in fruits and in the great southern countries. The lack of common European action in the fields of import control and access to new foreign markets creates more pressure in the common market. The proposal of CMO's reform comes after the great CAP's change of 2003 -and its new paradigm- and the budget agricultural agreement until 2013. In practice, this reduces the real policy options for the new regulation. Main changes should occur in processing aids, where forces to decouple are strong; given that exports refunds are already phasing out and markets withdrawals are in decline. The main political defy is how to promote horizontal concentration through PO and to avoid the price crisis. To solve the issue of stability (or decline) of the human consumption, more can be done from the policy. The farmer's influence in political decision seems weak. The scope for radical changes in fund distribution will be possible at national level.