Feasibility Study on the Setting up of a Platform For Data and Information Exchange for the European Fruit and Vegetable Market

This study is the feasibility analysis of a platform for data and information exchange for the European fruit and vegetables market. The platform should be: managed in partnership by the European Commission (DG AGRI) and the industry through its professional organizations; made available to Producer Organisations which are members of the platform network; focused on the most representative producer Countries (at least, France, Spain, and Italy); including an Internet-based data & information exchange system, managed by an SQL-Server database (or equivalent); and a Web Portal for the provision and the propagation of the information to the professional sector and to the public services; covering a defined list of products (apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries, kiwi, asparagus, tomatoes, citrus fruits); providing data related to production, stocks, harvest campaign forecast, prices, consumptions. The specific tasks of the study are: Legal assessment (compatibility of the platform with existing European law, and national law on competition and privacy, if relevant); Collection of existing data and methodologies (overview on the existing data collection and processing mechanisms in at least 3 of the main producing Countries); Technical requirements of the platform; Conclusions and recommendations. Five organisations which produce information for the fruit and vegetable industry have been identified in Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. They are POs, APOs and inter-branch organizations (IBOs), which already operate their own information systems by covering wide geographical areas. The functioning of these organizations has been analysed through a questionnaire composed of five sections in which the following aspects are asked about: (1) the information system’s activities and organisational layout; (2) hardware and software equipments utilised; (3) basic reference national law and rules in the fields of privacy and competition; (4) structure and financing of the organisation; (5) how the need for more information and data about the fruit and vegetable industry is perceived, and what are the motivations for participating into a European platform aimed to data and information exchange. In Chapter 1, the legal framework about privacy and competition matters has been examined thoroughly. The questionnaires’ feedbacks on the field have allowed to make an insight analysis of the information made available from the European institutions, and to assess the significance of national legislation for the purposes of this study. From this perspective, practical requirements for the platform have been drawn, in order to assure its compliance with the legislative framework. The answers of the interviewed organisations to sections 1, 2, 4, and 5 of the questionnaire have been examined in depth in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 deals with the following elements: (a) identification of an appropriate platform model; (b) the possibility for the interviewed organisations to participate into the European platform. The solutions identified for the platform organisation and operation are based on a reasoning about the possible motivations for the actors potentially involved (i.e., the public and private institutions) to develop a common initiative. In particular, an area of common interest has been identified, in order to define the objectives of the platform and its organisational layout. This includes the basic rationale for the functions to be undertaken by the public institutions. The platform model proposes a series of solutions related to the juridical aspects, the technical requirements, the costs, and the financial sustainability. An implementation strategy has thus been suggested and specific tasks have been assigned to the potential participants. The concluding remarks and the role of public institutions in the implementation of the platform are the object of Chapter 4.