Greece recieves none of EU's €3.1m fund to provide fruit & veg to schools

Greece did not manage to absorb a single euro from the EU’s fruit and vegetables in schools scheme because no tender was submitted to a call, a European Commission spokesperson told EURACTIV.com.

The European Commission recently announced the absorption rates of a €150 million programme, which aimed to distribute fruits and vegetables in schools for the 2015 -2016 period.

Greece was the only EU country that did not absorb any amount from the €3.1 million to which it was entitled.

Contacted by EURACTIV, a Commission spokesperson said that Greece notified the EU executive of its intention to participate in the school fruits and vegetables scheme during the 2015/2016 school year, which prompted an allocation of €3.143 million for Athens under the scheme.

“The Commission services have accompanied Greece all along the process just as they do with every other member state. However, no tenders were submitted to the call to select a body to supply fruit and vegetables,” the EU official said, adding that this led to the scheme not being implemented due to these external reasons.

source: euractiv.com