The European Commission told the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 21 November that it would not be proposing an EU export credit tool for agricultural products.
In March, the Agriculture Council called on the Commission to assess the feasibility of an instrument of this sort that would complement the systems that exist in some member states, such as Germany. The Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU asked member states to submit written opinions.
In light of the contributions received, the Commission concluded that an export credit instrument was not required, with little enthusiasm for it among the member states. At the SCA meeting, some delegations, including those of France and Denmark, called on the Commission to better assess the use of export tools and refunds by the EU's main competitors.
France adopts new mechanism
The French government announced on Tuesday that agricultural exporters would now be eligible for a new short-term credit insurance scheme for transactions with Algeria, Lebanon and Egypt. The request for this export credit instrument was made initially by the national beef federation (Fédération nationale bovine, FNB), unhappy that the Commission was taking no concrete steps to relieve the market (such as distributing beef-based products to countries that are having to deal with an influx of refugees on humanitarian grounds). The French government wanted to extend the new national export credit scheme to agricultural products (as a whole) being sent to the above-mentioned three countries. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)