EU grants Poland 77 million euro food aid package
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
12.10.2012 12:32
Poland was granted 77 million euro in food aid by the European Union on Thursday, marking the last wave of hand-outs under the union's current annual scheme.
Image: ec.europa.eu
A sum of 500 million euro was shared out on Thursday, with Italy, Spain and Poland being granted the largest portions.
The scheme, which is channelled towards enclaves of poverty across the European Union, brings free food to approximately 18 million EU citizens.
However, it will no longer have a pool of 500 million euro at its disposal next year.
Following a complaint from Germany, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in 2011 that aid may only come from EU public stocks, and cannot be purchased on the open market, a decision that has paved the way for sweeping cuts in expenditure on the programme.
Six EU member states ( the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Sweden and the UK) rejected the continuation of the programme in its present incarnation last October.
The above countries continue to argue that food aid programmes should be organised at a national level.
Some 19 EU member states were granted food aid in yesterday's division of funds. Italy topped the list with 98.2 million euro, followed by Spain (85.6 million euro), Poland (76.9 million euro), France (71.3 euro) and Romania (55.8 million euro). (nh)