Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler this week finally presented his ideas for the reform of the EU’s fraud-ridden olive oil market

Date: 13/02/1997

Pointing to the need to cut down on fraudulent requests for EU aid, Fischler claimed that “if we fail to take action, we will have structural surpluses that will increase annually”. Fischler's favoured option is to link aid to the number of trees and historical regional yields. A second option, included under pressure from the southern member states, would retain the current system based on production and consumption aids. A legislative proposal will be prepared once the Commission has received reactions to its report.