“The EU came very close to winning the Nobel Prize for shamelessness when the food aid programme came under threat,” GUE/NGL MEP Younous Omarjee told parliament today in the debate on aid to the most deprived. “It was the Heads of State that deserved such an accolade when they proposed to devastate an instrument that seeks to ease the worst forms of poverty.”

“MEPs should be proud of their fight to keep the programme going. We need to send a clear, powerful and unambiguous signal to the Council that €3.5 billion is a necessary minimum for the Fund for European aid to the most deprived (FEAD) that is intended to replace the current EU food aid programme.”

Patrick Le Hyaric said that it was crucial to ensure that this report is adopted by parliament: “We should also ensure that it is a simple fund, with less red tape. Without mandatory involvement of member states, one cannot talk about EU solidarity. There is an additional need to guarantee transitional arrangements between the old and new programmes and the use of surplus food stocks, such as fruit and vegetables,” he said. “Fundamentally, we need to put a stop to the rise of poverty in Europe.”

MEPs will vote tomorrow on the fund for food and clothes to meet the basic needs of Europe's poorest people for the period 2014-2020. Over 100 million people in Europe are at risk of poverty and social exclusion.

 

GUE/NGL Press:
David Lundy +32 470 85 05 09
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08