The European Parliament decided to raise no objections to the Commission delegated regulation of 10 August 2023 derogating from Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council for the year 2023 as regards the value of marketed production, the national strategy and the recovery of Union financial assistance for multiannual commitments in the fruit and vegetables sector due to adverse meteorological events.

In support of its statement, Parliament recalled that due to severe adverse meteorological events ( inter alia droughts and floods) affecting several Member States’ regions in 2023, the production of fruit and vegetables has been dramatically damaged, affecting both the volume produced and its quality. Many recognised producer organisations and associations of producer organisations are facing difficulties in implementing their approved operational programmes.

With a view to addressing the consequences of the unprecedented nature of severe adverse meteorological events of the spring of 2023, the Commission proposed that it is necessary to alleviate those difficulties by derogating from certain provisions of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891 applicable in the fruit and vegetables sector. Therefore, the producer organisations should be exempted in the year 2023 from the provisions regarding the obligation that the economic value of products sold from producers that are not members of the producer organisation or of the association of producer organisation must be below the value of marketed production of the producer organisation or of the association of producer organisations.

It is also necessary for Member States to be exempted from their obligation to set out in the national strategy the maximum percentages of the operational fund which may be spent on individual measures or types of action.

To ensure the financial stability of producer organisations, Union financial assistance received for multiannual commitments in the fruit and vegetables sector, such as environmental actions, should not be recovered and reimbursed to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) as provided for in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891, if their long-term objectives could not be realised because of their interruption in the year 2023 for reasons linked to the consequences of the adverse meteorological events of the spring of 2023.

Text adopted by Parliament, single reading