The European Commission presented a delegated act on Friday 17 February that will allow Italy to exceptionally award additional support to farmers affected by the wave of earthquakes by topping up the country’s EU envelope by up to 200% (see EUROPE 11709).
In the affected regions, the Italian authorities will be able to top up the €21 million envelope of European funding given in July 2016 (as part of the measures for milk producers and livestock farmers) with national funding (up to 200% of the initial sum). The financial assistance available will thus be tripled to €61 billion.
Given the critical situation currently facing livestock farmers in the earthquake-stricken regions of Italy and in order to ensure immediate aid, the support measure is expected to be adopted as quickly as possible, by means of the urgency procedure, the Commission says, in the draft delegated act. The act will apply as long as no objection is expressed by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months (or, should one of the institutions ask for an extension for two additional months, within a period of 4 months).
The Commission announced on 23 January that certain rules would be relaxed in order to help the agricultural communities in Italy affected by recent earthquakes. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)