The European Commission has prepared a report for the Council and the European Parliament on the emergency aid that EU farmers have received over the last 10 years. What does it mean?
This report is – as we read – the first to meet the EC’s reporting obligation, specifically regarding the allocation of the agricultural reserve, introduced by the last reform of the CAP (although in fact, it also covers the two previous terms and previous “policies”).
But it is difficult not to link his publication directly with the current situation regarding agricultural sentiment in the EU. The report in question was published on January 23 this year, the day before the National Farmers’ Protest, but also “during” subsequent waves of other agricultural protests organized in most EU countries for a longer period of time.
Moreover, soon, on June 9 this year. elections to the European Parliament will take place. Has the “time to settle accounts for previous activities” accelerated the EC’s decision to publish now a report on the crisis aid that EU farmers have received on an ad hoc basis over the last 10 years?
The Commission is always ready to help
– Over the last decade, the EU agricultural sector has faced multiple crises, including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, animal diseases, significant market disruptions and extreme weather events. They have had an impact on virtually all agricultural sectors across the EU. Such events are often multidimensional and unpredictable, therefore requiring ad hoc and targeted responses, the EC notes in the announcement.
And adds:
– The Commission has always been ready to help EU farmers in need within its legal toolkit. From January 1, 2014 until the end of 2023, the European Commission adopted 63 emergency actions aimed at supporting farmers and producers affected by production losses, price cuts, higher production costs or supply chain disruptions. These actions contributed more than €2.5 billion in EU funds to the EU agricultural sector and demonstrated the EU’s continued solidarity with farmers.
How was this money distributed?
The EC calculated that:
- Over EUR 500 million was distributed between 2014 and 2018 to EU producers of fresh fruit and vegetables affected by the Russian ban on imports from the EU
- Two support packages have been launched for 2015 and 2016 with a total value of over EUR 800 million, including the creation of an EU milk production reduction program to stabilize the dairy market and fully support farmers’ incomes in the face of market disruptions
- Around €450 million has been earmarked for specific measures to support the wine sector and enable producers to resort to crisis distillation, inter alia to cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, trade sanctions and recent market imbalances
- An aid package of EUR 500 million was launched in March 2022 to support producers most affected by the serious consequences of the war in Ukraine
- EUR 156 million has been earmarked for farmers from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia most affected by increased imports of cereals and oilseeds from Ukraine
- Financial compensation has been allocated for farmers subject to sanitary control and preventive measures to combat bird flu outbreaks
- €330 million was provided in July 2023 to EU farmers from 22 countries struggling with specific problems in various agricultural sectors, such as higher production costs and the effects of extreme weather events.
– The adopted measures have generally proven to be effective in helping farmers and producers in the EU cope with the effects of the crises – we read in the EC press release.
And next:
– Emergency measures were mainly taken to help farmers with damage they had suffered as a result of market disruptions or animal or plant health problems. They also helped farmers reduce the negative impact of extreme adverse weather events on their economic profits. The report also points out that while exceptional measures are a clear demonstration of EU solidarity, their use should not prevent farmers from managing their own risks, for example by resorting to sustainable agronomic and livestock practices, and adopting appropriate risk management tools and strategies, the EC stresses. .
Is it a lot or is it a little?
“Quickly” counting, the European Commission has spent about PLN 100 of crisis aid on one EU farm over the last 10 years. Overall, the amount is not very impressive, considering the crisis situations in agriculture recorded in the past decade.
It is no wonder that Janusz Wojciechowski so often emphasized the need to increase the CAP budget for the crisis reserve in interviews with farmer.pl.
As long as it didn’t go mainly to rescuing winemakers in a difficult situation… (see data above). What does wine have to do with the need to ensure food security in Europe?
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