Press Release: Commission charges five Member States for failure to prevent build-up of surplus sugar stocks

The European Commission has fixed definitive charges on five Member States for failing to prevent the build-up of surplus stocks of sugar prior to their accession in May 2004. The five countries – Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia and Malta – will have to pay charges totalling around €57 million over the next four years. As is usual before every enlargement, the new Member States were required to ensure that there was no speculative stockpiling of agricultural products, which would upset the balance of the entire EU market. Surplus stocks of sugar were found in these five countries. In 2005, the Commission granted them additional time to eliminate the surplus sugar from the EU market. The charges imposed on 13 November 2006 follow an intensive debate with the countries concerned, during which the Commission took into account well-founded arguments and granted extra time to dispose of the surpluses.