Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) enables the potential of the European agricultural and agri-food sector to be released and exploited. A reform is under way which will ensure, after 2013, that this policy feeds directly into the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by promoting an agricultural sector which delivers food security, a sustainable use of natural resources and more dynamic rural areas. In parallel, reform of the policy for information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products, one of the instruments of the CAP, is also needed.

As a CAP tool, the European policy for the promotion of agricultural products must pursue the objectives of CAP reform up to 2020, and more particularly the objective of strengthening the competitiveness of European agriculture both on the internal market and in third countries, focussing on the following specific goals:
– Increasing the level of awareness among consumers of the merits of European agricultural products;
– Developing and opening up new markets for European agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries;
– Enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy.

This proposal enables information provision and promotion measures necessary for the agricultural sector to be able to rise to the many challenges it faces in a context of growing competition and opening-up of markets to be implemented on the internal market and in third countries. The success of European agriculture will depend on its ability to increase its market shares and enable the highly competitive food industry sector to maintain an important position in the EU’s trade and economy.

Measures will follow a European information and promotion strategy which identifies priorities on markets and products or messages to be highlighted (e.g. products with high added value), while taking account of free trade agreement negotiations and the most profitable markets and avoiding a fragmentation and dispersion of funding. A rebalancing of measures targeting third countries is also expected with this proposal.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)812: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:812:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)469: Executive summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:469:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)470: Impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:470:FIN

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