"Unfortunately, the decree implementing the law on the guaranteed income of agricultural entrepreneurs still has to be processed, while the CMO already envisages the co-financing of management costs," explains Luciano Caruso, expert in international agrobusiness.
Luciano Caruso
"The leading fresh produce producers are Spain, Italy, France and Greece, but they're not able to influence EU decision-making processes and most Community resources focus on CAP (single payments), which favours Northern European countries."
Do we cause our own damage?
"At the moment, we participate in the subsidies granted to Eastern European countries and employ more resources than what we get back. Countries like Poland, Romania and Hungary use our resources to invest in greenhouses, so we are co-financing our competition. It's a paradox, a form of self-harm that has no reason to exist. To this, we must add the burden of Italian bureaucracy."
For various reasons, some countries don't follow EU regulations, while Italy does.