EUROPEAN FUNDING FOR FOOD AID INCREASED TO €M 869 IN FRANCE FOR PERIOD 2021-27

USPA NEWS - European funding for food aid increased to 869 million euros in France for the period 2021-2027



French Minister of Solidarity and Health, Olivier Veran, and Clement Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, welcome the increase in funds allocated to food aid in France by the European Union for the years 2021 to 2027. The announcement of this envelope, up 48% compared to the previous fiscal year 2014 to 2020, comes in addition to a considerable increase in the budget allocated to food aid by France, in order to support associations which have faced a very high demand due to the COVID-19 crisis. Mr. Olivier Veran and Mr. Beaune, in the presence of Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Food, and Mr. Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, shared this Tuesday November 3, 2020 this announcement during a videoconference meeting with the four associations benefiting from European funding for food aid: the Restos du CÅ“ur, the French Federation of Food Banks, the Secours populaire and the French Red Cross.

FOR SEVERAL YEARS THE RENEWAL OF THE EUROPEAN AID FUND FOR THE MOST DEPRIVED (FEAD) For several years, the renewal of the European Aid Fund for the Most Deprived (FEAD) has been the main expectation of the beneficiary associations, which are strongly attached to this long-term funding of their activity and to this incarnation of "social Europe". This question was part of the European project to merge cohesion funds into a new ESF + (European Solidarity Fund) for the period 2021-2027, discussed by the European Union. The Government had pledged that the new European budget would maintain this support. Funding is not only made sustainable through the inclusion of FEAD in the ESF +, but increased, to a total level of 48% over the period, or 869 million euros (compared to 583 million euros between 2014 and 2020). THE € 869M FUNDING IS STRUCTURED AS FOLLOWS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- “¢ 90 million euros left over from FEAD for the 2014-2020 financial year “¢ 132 million euros under the European recovery plan for the years 2020-2022 “¢ 647 million euros under the ESF + for the years 2021 to 2027. "Maintaining food aid in France is a priority as the epidemic crisis has weighed heavily on our poorest fellow citizens, who have resorted massively to help from associations. Commitment made by the President of the Republic, this long-term and increased support from Europe to our associative networks that come to the aid of the most vulnerable is precious, at a time when the long-term social consequences of the crisis are still there. difficult to measure. It also demonstrates in a concrete and indisputable way the social role that the European Union plays. »Olivier Véran, Minister of Solidarity and Health “In these particularly difficult times, the European Union is stepping up its support for food aid. The 50% increase in resources in France, thanks to the new European budget and the recovery plan, is the fulfillment of a commitment by France, which has always been very attached to European funding for food aid. "Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European AffairsThe announcement of this European funding comes at a time when the COVID-19 crisis has weighed and continues to weigh heavily on the daily lives of our most precarious citizens. This social impact, still difficult to define, has resulted in particular in massive recourse to food aid, as the various associative networks have witnessed. This unprecedented increase in needs has led the State and associations to mobilize new means to meet them. The Government has thus announced an increase of 144 million euros in its budget devoted to food aid for the year 2020: 50 million for food vouchers for homeless people and 94 million for two successive support plans for actors. food aid. As part of the France relaunch plan, the Government is mobilizing 100 million euros in support of associations fighting against poverty in order to respond to and anticipate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These measures complement all the direct aid that was decided in 2020 to support the most vulnerable in the face of the crisis, to the tune of 3 billion Euros in total. If this response to the emergency of an unprecedented situation was necessary, the maintenance over time of public support for food aid is just as important. The announcement of sustainable and increased European funding was therefore a major response to this issue. Source: French Ministry of health