The socio-economic situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate with dire consequences both in Venezuela and the neighbouring countries. To respond to this situation, the Commission announces today a package of €35.1 million in emergency aid and medium-term development assistance to support the Venezuelan people and the neighbouring countries affected by this crisis.

High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini said: “Venezuela and Europe have always been incredibly close. We have cultural, historic and family ties with them. Our peoples are friends and partners. This new package is for those who are in the country and those who fled. Venezuela’s neighbours are showing great solidarity: we are with them, as partners, to support their hospitality while also strengthening the local communities’ economy and resilience.”

“During my visit to Colombia and the Venezuelan border just a few months ago, I saw first-hand the consequences of the crisis and its destabilising effects in neighbouring countries. Many people are lacking crucial medicines and are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Venezuela. We cannot remain bystanders to this human tragedy.” said Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.

Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica added: “We are very concerned about the critical situation in Venezuela and its impact in neighbouring countries such as Colombia which are confronted to a growing influx of people fleeing Venezuela. This package will improve the Venezuelan people’s access to food and nutrition, as well as basic services like water, sanitation and hygiene. The EU’s support will also help Venezuelan migrants and host communities to build resilience to respond to the increasing migratory pressures.”

Out of the funding announced today, €5 million in humanitarian aid will provide health assistance, food and nutrition, water and protection for the most vulnerable mostly inside Venezuela. Another €5 million will support conflict-prevention measures to reduce social tensions and violence and protect people displaced by the crisis. €18.1 million in development assistance will address food and nutrition security, water, sanitation and hygiene within the country, as well as the socio-economic inclusion of migrants and support for host communities in neighbouring countries. Furthermore, an additional €7 million to meet further needs of those communities is being made available.

Background

The European Commission’s humanitarian aid department has been providing emergency support to Venezuela since 2016 focussed on providing medicines, food and protection. Additionally, the Commission aims at building up the ability of vulnerable communities and disaster responders to prepare for, and address the natural hazards plaguing Venezuela and the region.

The European Commission’s international cooperation and development department is implementing projects in Venezuela through its thematic and regional programmes to support civil society, local authorities and human and social rights. Recently measures to address food and nutrition security as well as water, hygiene and sanitation have been set up. Additionally the Commission is mobilising its ‘migration and asylum programme’ to support the region in coping with displaced persons.

For More Information

EU Humanitarian Aid in South America

EU Cooperation and Development with Venezuela

This brings Commission humanitarian funding to €30.5 million to address the needs in Western Balkans since the start of the refugee crisis.

Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said: “The number of refugees and migrants arriving in Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased and we must act swiftly. We are committed to help Bosnia and Herzegovina deal with this situation and deliver assistance to the most vulnerable refugees and migrants. Our funding will support their basic needs and provide emergency shelter, food and health assistance, as well as protection.”

EU humanitarian aid will be provided in locations such as Sarajevo, Bihać and Velika Kladusa in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The funding aims to strengthen the provision of assistance, the protective environment and enhancing the capacity of organisations already providing first-line emergency response.

Background

Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Western Balkans the European Commission has allocated more than €25 million in humanitarian aid to assist refugees and migrants in Serbia, and over €4 million to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. EU humanitarian aid helps the most vulnerable refugees and migrants to meet basic needs and preserve their dignity.

In addition to humanitarian assistance, the European Commission provides Western Balkans partners with significant financial and technical support for activities related to migration and refugee crisis. This is done primarily through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance. Since 2007 the Commission has been providing assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of migration and border management through the Instrument of pre-accession amounting to €24.6 million. From January 2016 Bosnia and Herzegovina also benefits from the regional programme ‘Support to Protection-Sensitive Migration Management’ worth €8 million.

Around 4.900 refugees and migrants entered Bosnia and Herzegovina since early January 2018, according to government estimates. Approximately 2.500 refugees and migrants in need of assistance are currently stranded in the country. The EU will provide its assistance through humanitarian partner organisations already present in the country.

EU exports of agri-food products reached €138 billion in 2017, representing an annual increase of 5.1%. With imports at a value of €117 billion, the EU has a net trade surplus of €21 billion in its agri-food trade, according to the 2017 annual agri-food trade report published today.

The entire output of the EU’s agricultural sector is estimated at €427 billion in 2017. The food processing chain accounts for 7.5% of employment and 3.7% of total value added in the EU. The share of exports in production value chain is continuously increasing and as such, exports are a driver for jobs and growth for the European agri-food sector.

Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development said: “The success of agricultural trade is clearly linked to reforms of the CAP that allow EU producers to be competitive on international markets. But it is also thanks to the worldwide reputation of EU products as being safe, sustainably produced, nutritious and of high quality. Our ambitious trade agenda – with recent successes in negotiations with Canada, Japan and Mexico – helps EU farmers and food producers make full use of the opportunities of international markets while recognising the need to provide sufficient safeguards for more sensitive sectors.”

EU exports to all our current five main partners increased: to the United States, China, Switzerland, Russia and Japan. The Commission has also made recent progress on multiple bilateral trade negotiations, thus further opening new markets for EU agri-food products. In September 2017, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada was provisionally applied. The EU and Japan have reached an agreement, currently in the process of ratification, on an Economic Partnership Agreement in December 2017 with many benefits for the European agri-food sector. An agreement in principle with Mexico on the modernisation of the current trade agreement was also reached in April 2018.

The Commission also helps EU exporters to identify export opportunities and secure business deals through promotion activities and high-level business missions led by Commissioner Hogan. In 2017 and so far in 2018, Commissioner Hogan travelled accompanied by EU producers to Canada, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.

The EU exports a wide range of products from all parts of the value chain, from commodities and other primary products, processed agricultural products (such as cheese and wine) to highly processed food industry products, which demonstrates the versatility of the sector. EU’s flagship products leading exports are wine and spirits, infant food, food preparations, chocolate and pig meat.

Regarding imports, the EU has been able to diversify its sourcing over the last years with the share of the two main origin countries (Brazil and the US) decreasing in favour of other suppliers. The EU is in essence sourcing three main types of products from non-EU countries: products that are not (or only to a small extent) produced in the EU itself due to natural conditions (such as tropical fruits, coffee, etc.), products that are mostly used for animal feed and products that are used as ingredient in further processing.

The full report also includes an overview of the trade performance of the EU’s key partners (United States, China, Brazil, Japan, Russia) and their trade flows with the EU, as well as a chapter on trade and cooperation with Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

For More Information

2017 agri-food trade report

The new programme will strengthen the governance of the EU’s internal market. It will support businesses’ – and in particular SMEs’ – competitiveness and will promote human, animal and plant health and animal welfare, as well as establish the framework for financing European statistics.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: “The Single Market is the beating heart of the EU. In the 25 years of its existence it has brought enormous benefits to EU citizens and businesses. For the Single Market to stay fit for purpose, we need to look after it properly. Today we are proposing a new programme to further increase the positive impact on Europeans”.

Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, added: “We need to ensure that consumers are able to benefit from their rights. This means providing them with practical advice on consumer issues and removing dangerous products from the market. This is what the new Single Market Programme will achieve. For the first time, we will also fund collective redress procedures, as we announced in the New Deal for Consumers.”

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, added: “I am pleased that the food safety pillar is one of the main beneficiaries of the New Single Market Programme. This is the recognition of the importance of securing the smooth functioning of the internal market in food products, by preventing and when necessary combating animal and plant diseases that can have major consequences for public health and the EU economy. It allows us to strengthen further our efforts in the areas of animal welfare, food waste and the fight against fraud.”

The new Single Market Programme will support:

• Consumer protection and empowerment: The new programme will guarantee the enforcement of consumer rights, ensure a high level of consumer protection and product safety and assist consumers when they encounter problems, for example when shopping online. It will also facilitate consumers’ access to redress, as proposed in the New Deal for Consumers.

• Competitiveness of businesses, in particular SMEs: Building on the success of the current programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), the Commission is proposing to strengthen the support given to small business to scale up and expand across borders;

• A high level of human, animal and plant health: EU citizens will continue to have access to safe and high quality food in the integrated European Single Market. Under the new programme, funding will support the safe production of food, the prevention and eradication of animal diseases and plant pests, and the improvement of animal welfare in the EU. It will also promote market access for EU food producers, contribute to exports to third-countries, and significantly support the agri-food industry as a leading sector of the EU economy;

• Effective enforcement and first class standards: The programme will strengthen cooperation between Member States and the Commission to ensure that EU rules are properly implemented and enforced. The programme will also support European standardisation organisations in developing up-to-date and future-proof standards.

• Fair competition in the digital age: The programme will help the Commission to further enhance its IT tools and expertise that it uses to effectively enforce competition rules in the digital economy (i.e. to respond to market developments such as the use of big data and algorithms) as well as to strengthen cooperation between the Commission and Member State authorities and courts.

• High quality European statistics: The programme will provide funding to national statistics institutes for the production and dissemination of European statistics which are indispensable for decision-making in all policy areas.

Next steps

A swift agreement on the overall long-term EU budget and its sectoral proposals is essential to ensure that EU funds start delivering results as soon as possible. Delays similar to the ones experienced at the beginning of the current 2014-2020 budgetary period would reduce the financial assistance and technical support provided to SMEs, disturb actions to guarantee food or product safety and disrupt the development of new standards.

An agreement on the next long-term budget in 2019 would provide for a seamless transition between the current long-term budget (2014-2020) and the new one and would ensure predictability and continuity of activities to the benefit of all.

Background

The Commission is proposing a budget of €4 billion for the Single Market Programme. In addition, €2 billion allocated under the InvestEU Fund, in particular through its Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Window, will significantly contribute to the objectives of programme.

The Single Market allows Europeans to travel freely, study, work, live and fall in love across borders. They can buy what they want, where they want, and benefit from greater choice and lower prices. European businesses – large and small – can expand their customer base and exchange products and services more easily across the EU. Simply put, the Single Market is Europe’s best asset to generate growth and foster competitiveness of European companies in globalised markets.

The new Single Market Programme follows the Commission’s vision for the next long-term budget proposed on 2 May 2018. It is a modern, simple and flexible programme which consolidates a large range of activities that were previously financed separately, into one coherent programme. This will reduce overlaps and improve cooperation. Ultimately, it will ensure continuity in the efficient delivery of the Single Market on the ground, while providing better value for money for EU citizens.

More information

Legal texts and factsheets:

Factsheet with success examples – 25 Years of the Single Market

Joint statement on the occasion of the 25^th anniversary of the European Single Market

More information on the EU budget for the future can be found here