THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 31 October 2011,
Whereas:
(1)
The Union’s development policy aims to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty.
(2)
The Union, as a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is committed to mainstreaming trade in development strategies and to promoting international trade in order to advance development and reduce — and, in the long term, eradicate — poverty worldwide.
(3)
The Union supports the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States on their path to poverty reduction and to sustainable economic and social development, and recognises the importance of their commodity sectors.
(4)
The Union is committed to supporting the smooth and gradual integration of developing countries into the world economy with a view to sustainable development. The main ACP banana-exporting countries may face challenges in the context of changing trade arrangements, notably liberalisation of the most-favoured nation (MFN) tariff in the framework of the WTO and the bilateral and regional agreements concluded, or in the process of being concluded, between the Union and Latin American countries. Therefore, an ACP banana accompanying measures programme (the BAM programme) should be added to Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
(5)
The financial assistance measures to be adopted under the BAM programme should aim at improving the living standards and living conditions of people in banana-growing areas and in banana value chains, specifically small farmers and small entities, as well as ensuring compliance with labour and occupational health and safety standards, and environmental standards, notably those regarding the use of and exposure to pesticides. Those measures should therefore support adaptation and include, when relevant, the reorganisation, of areas dependent upon banana exports to the European Union through sector-specific budget support or project-specific interventions. The measures should take into consideration the expected development of the banana export sector and aim to provide for social resilience policies, economic diversification or investment to improve competitiveness, where this is viable, taking into account the results of and experiences gained through the Special System of Assistance (SSA) to traditional ACP suppliers of bananas established in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2686/94 and the Special Framework of Assistance (SFA) for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas established in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1609/1999. The Union acknowledges the importance of promoting a more equitable distribution of banana revenues.
(6)
The BAM programme should accompany the adaptation process in ACP countries which have exported significant volumes of bananas to the Union in recent years and which may be affected by liberalisation in the framework of the Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas and by the bilateral and regional agreements concluded, or in the process of being concluded, between the Union and Latin American countries. The BAM programme builds on the SFA for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas. It is in conformity with the Union’s international obligations in the framework of the WTO, focuses on restructuring and boosting competitiveness, and is consequently temporary in nature, with a duration of three years (2011 to 2013).
(7)
The conclusions of the Commission Communication of 17 March 2010 entitled ‘Biennial Report on the Special Framework of Assistance for Traditional ACP Suppliers of Bananas’ indicate that past assistance programmes made substantial contributions to achieving improved capacity for successful economic diversification, although the full impact cannot be quantified, and that the sustainability of ACP banana exports remains fragile.
(8)
The Commission has carried out an evaluation of the SFA programme and has not carried out an impact assessment of the banana accompanying measures.
(9)
The Commission should ensure proper coordination of this programme with the regional and national indicative programmes operating in the beneficiary countries, in particular as regards the achievement of economic, agricultural, social and environmental objectives.
(10)
Almost 2 % of the world’s trade in bananas is endorsed by fair trade producers’ organisations. The minimum fair trade prices are set on the basis of a calculation of the ‘sustainable production costs’, established following consultations with stakeholders, with a view to internalising the costs of meeting decent social and environmental standards and generating a reasonable profit, enabling producers to safeguard their livelihoods in the long term.
(11)
To prevent the exploitation of local workers, actors in the production chain in the banana industry should agree to ensure that the revenue generated by the industry is allocated fairly.
(12)
Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,
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