European Union agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos proposed €210 million in aid for vegetable growers today who have been affected by a slump in sales following an outbreak of E.coli in Germany
The proposal comes after EU member states baulked at an initial offer of €150 million for farmers whose businesses have been badly affected by the outbreak, which has infected more than 2,400 people and killed 23 across Europe.
Groups representing farmers said €150 million would barely cover one week's loss of income in Spain.
The EU also proposed to increase the rate of compensation to 50 per cent of the average seasonal price for cucumbers, tomatoes and salads offered for destruction, from 30 per cent previously. Mr Ciolos said the commission will also include courgettes and bell peppers in the aid package.
Meanwhile, German health minister Daniel Bahr said today the rate of new cases of Germans contracting the deadly strain of E.coli are declining significantly.
"There will be new cases and unfortunately we have to expect more deaths, but the number of new infections are dropping significantly," Mr Bahr said in an interview with ARD television channel. "I cannot sound the all clear, but after analysing the latest data we have reasonable cause for hope."
Mr Bahr sounded more upbeat than yesterday, when he said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the worst was over.
This morning, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney moved again to reassure Irish consumers that food was safe.
"Even though there has been huge concerns and a huge reduction in salad vegetables that people have been buying ... I don't think consumers need to have concerns around these vegetable," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Mr Coveney said any Irish farmer who has been affected may be entitled to compensation.
“There is hope for farmers here. Any farmer that has been unable to sell their produce because of this outbreak – whether they’re selling domestically or exporting – will be able to apply for compensation,” he said. “The compensation that was on offer yesterday was 30 per cent of market value of pre-crisis values … by the end of the meeting [the commissioner] accepted that the 30 per cent figure was far too low.”
“I expect that that figure in the next three or four days will be increased to in an around 50 per cent of market value of the produce.”
Additional reporting: Reuters