On Thursday 2 August, the Commission announced that several measures would be set in place to support farmers in member states hit by persistent drought. Such measures show “the long standing commitment of Mr Juncker to stand by the farmers”, the Commission spokesperson said.
After the discussion on Tuesday this week between Juncker and Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, the Commission took the decision to make advance direct and rural development payments to farmers suffering from drought conditions. Farmers will have access to 70% of direct payments and 85% of rural development payments in mid-October. The remainder will be available to them in December, as planned.
The Commission also waived the specific requirements regarding greening in order to increase land use flexibility. In particular, farmers may use fallow land for cattle feed. “The reduction in the level of animal feed is having a particular impact on the income of livestock farmers”, the Commission argued.
Furthermore, Commissioner Hogan encouraged “all member states to look into all possible actions and measures provided for in our legislation”. The regulatory frameworks relating to state aid and rural development give states a range of possibilities for compensating damage due to drought.
Measures in place will be revised by the Commission once it has received concrete data on the impact that the drought has had in the different member states. The latter have until 31 August to submit information. After that date, the Commission will study the tailoring of such measures and the possibility of setting complementary measures in place. (Original version in French by Carmen Garcia, trainee)