http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/cotton

Cotton

Cotton is an arable crop used both for its seeds, from which oil and oilseed cakes are made, and mainly for its fibre. The cotton sector has strong regional importance in the two main producing EU Member States, Greece and Spain.

Decoupling means that priority is given to supporting the income of producers, rather than what they produce. Producers receive the aid in return for respecting strict standards of environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety ('cross compliance') and are free to produce whatever they wish. To be eligible for coupled aid, cotton can be grown only on land authorised by the Member State, using authorised varieties of seed, and the cotton must be harvested under normal growing conditions. This coupled element has been kept to avoid abandonment of production.

Under the Single Payment Scheme, national base areas that could benefit from the coupled aid are established as follows:

• Greece: 370 000 ha
• Spain: 70 000 ha
• Portugal: 360 ha

The amount of the aid per eligible hectare shall be in:

• Greece: EUR 594 for 300 000 ha and EUR 342,85 for the remaining 70 000 ha
• Spain: EUR 1 039
• Portugal: EUR 556

Background

Cotton is an arable crop used both for its seeds, from which oil and oilseed cakes are made, and mainly for its fibre. The cotton sector has strong regional importance in the two main producing Member States. Around 76 % of the EU's total output (about 1.45 million tons of raw cotton) is grown in Greece. In 2005, 9.1 % of Greece's total agricultural output was cotton while in Spain, the other main EU producer, cotton contributed 1.3 %. A small amount of cotton is also grown in Bulgaria; Portugal no longer grows cotton.

In the EU, most farms growing cotton are characterised by their small size (Greece 4.5 ha and Spain 11.0 ha) and large number (79 700 in Greece and 9 500 in Spain). In Greece, cotton holdings have a higher degree of specialisation; the region of Thessaly is devoted almost exclusively to cotton production.

Internationally, the EU is a minor player, contributing only about 2 % to the world's total production of cotton. This implies that the impact of EU production on the evolution of world market prices has been negligible. This is further strengthened by the fact that the EU does not use export subsidies for this sector and offers duty free access.

Following requests received during the stakeholder consultation, the Commission will look into the creation of a "label of origin" to help promote EU cotton. In March 2006, the Commission committed itself to undertake a review of the rules on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs. The Commission will study the possibility of including cotton in the scope of this Regulation.

The Commission will also analyse the possibility of including certain cotton products entirely produced and manufactured in the EU in the list of products eligible for information and promotion actions and making budgetary resources (at least € 3 million) available for this purpose.

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