Brussels, 03/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - At 2.00 pm on Friday 5 September, European agriculture ministers will meet up to assess the impact and repercussions of the Russian embargo on import of EU agricultural products (see EUROPE 11146).
The debate at the Agriculture Council will be based on questions drawn up by the Italian presidency: products affected by the embargo in member states, the measures already taken to mitigate the negative effects of the ban at national and European levels, as well as what other measures could be planned or sought.
On Wednesday 3 September, the acting president of the Council, Maurizio Martina, who is the Italian Minister for Agriculture, addressed MEPs from the European Parliament agriculture committee and welcomed the European Commission's proactive response, following the announcement of the embargo and its adoption of the different measures. The minister stated that “CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) reform has demonstrated that there are instruments but that it would be useful to strengthen these kinds of measures”. Martina particularly highlighted the need to monitor the situation and introduce instruments that “can support our farms”. Following the many different questions from MEPs on problems created by the embargo, he added that “together with the Commission, we will have to see how to put in place the elements that can strengthen these instruments”.
What is to be expected from this Special Council? It is quite unlikely that any new measures will be announced. Ministers are expected to underline the urgency of the problem in certain states, such as the Baltic countries, Finland and Greece. The Council is expected to evaluate the different responses so far put forward by the Commission. Some countries, including those in the Baltic, are expected to call for further measures: revising the intervention price in the milk sector, export refunds, specific support for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Commission is expected to provide a sort of blueprint (see other article) on what has been and what can be done: state aid, promotional campaigns, coupled support, income stabilisation through rural development programmes.
At a meeting on Tuesday 2 September in Bonn, the German, French and Polish agriculture ministers asserted their wish to support European farmers having to confront the Russian embargo. Following a meeting with his French and Polish counterparts, Stéphane Le Foll and Marek Sawicki, respectively, the German minister, Christian Schmidt stated: “our goal has to be to minimise the impact on those being affected and at the same time, find new markets and new outlets so as to reduce the impact of future crises”. The three ministers all intend to emphasise the need to follow up the subject on a daily basis for the different products and be “ready to intervene” if necessary, French ministerial services explained.
It should be noted that the EU has begun discussions with certain third countries (including Egypt, Morocco and Israel), so that non-EU countries are not tempted to replace the EU on the Russian market (see other article).
Certain ministers may refer to the risks of circumvention or triangular trade (when, for example, a German product sold to the Swiss is resold on the Russian market).
Under presidential decree No. 560 of 6 August 2014 referring to the application of certain special economic measures to guarantee its security, Russia banned imports for a one-year period of certain agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway (see EUROPE 11135). The list of banned products was slightly amended on 20 August. The products targeted are as follows: meat, fish and crustaceans, milk and dairy products, fruit and vegetables, sausages and food stuffs, as well and finished products.
Measures already taken. On 18 August, the Commission decided to initiate emergency measures to reduce the overall supply of certain perishable fruit and vegetables on the European market (market withdrawals, compensation for not harvesting and green harvests). These measures will apply until the end of November and will have a budget of €125 million. Emergency support measures for peaches and nectarines were announced on 11 August (€29.7 million for withdrawals and €3 million for promotion). Measures to help milk and dairy product producers (butter, skimmed milk powder and certain cheeses) were also recently decided.
Budget. Most of the funding is expected to come from the crisis reserve fund for 2015. The Commission referred to the possibility of postponing funding that has not been used (2014-2015), but it is advocating a very cautious approach in this field because several net contributor countries have significant misgivings about such transfers. (LC)