Text tabled : A7-0032/2012

  Sergio Paolo Francesco Silvestris (PPE), in writing. – (IT) Following the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development’s approval of the Council’s text without any amendments, this House is this morning called to vote on the adoption of the regulation on the distribution of food products for the most deprived persons in the Union. Once approved, the regulation will take retroactive effect, applying from 1 January 2012 until the completion of the 2013 annual plan.

An annual ceiling of EUR 500 million is envisaged for full Union funding for the programme. The proposal incorporates the notion of the Union origin of the foods, the obligation for distribution points to clearly display the participation of the Union in the plan, the purchase of food products to be made on the basis of competitive procedures, and the reimbursement of storage costs incurred by charitable organisations.

On behalf of Parliament, we MEPs now call for unconditional support for continuing the programme beyond 2013, in view of future proposals from the Commission on the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020.