The EU’s school fruit, vegetable, milk and dairy scheme reaches only one in five pupils in the bloc, the European Parliament lamented on Tuesday.
In a resolution adopted with 534 votes in favour, 57 against and 23 abstentions, the elected representatives called for an increase in the budget and reduced bureaucracy to ensure that it is rolled out as effectively as possible.
Demand from schools to participate in the scheme, which is worth €220 million per school year, is strong in some Member States. But from 2017 to 2022, school participation has declined, MEPs note. “The European Commission must increase the budget, Member States must cut the bureaucracy and together they must pave the way for more schools and farmers to join the programme,” urged rapporteur Carmen Avram (S&D).
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Her colleague Benoît Lutgen (Les Engagés, EPP) said that “it is essential that children and teenagers can discover the quality of products from our agriculture and continue to include them in their diet.” He stressed that the EU, with this programme, “supports family and local agriculture, which is virtuous for the environment, preserves know-how and taste in food".
Given the considerable differences between how the 27 Member States implement the programme, the MEPs propose reallocating unused funds from one nation to others. They also propose a study into extending the scheme to the EU candidate countries.
