EU to up compensation pot following environmental health scare

The EU has announced plans to increase the amount of money set aside for compensation following the recent environmental health concerns in the fruit and vegetable market.

Many farmers saw their trade affected by the E coli outbreak in Germany, as many supermarkets and grocers took certain fresh products off their shelves for a period of time.

The EU had originally thought all claims would be covered by a €210 million (£183 million) pot, but demand from the agricultural sector across member states has been higher than expected.

Therefore, the European Commission has proposed increasing the fund to €227 million in order to cover all legitimate compensation cases.

Commissioner for agriculture and development Dacian Ciolos said urgent action was required to support innocent farmers.

"From the start of the crisis I said I was very keen to show Europe can react quickly when it needs to," he remarked.

In June, the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs urged people whose livelihoods had been affected through no fault of their own to claim compensation from the EU.

Posted by Joseph Hutton