The European Commission recently unveiled a draft implementation decision to grant nine EU member states, including France, derogations to help livestock farmers deal with the consequences of drought (see EUROPE 12077).
This was explained on Monday 27 August by MEP Michel Dantin (EPP, France), confirming that the subject of drought would be raised in the next meeting of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee on 29 and 30 August.
The derogations proposal for livestock still needs to be formally adopted by EU countries on 4 September. It is a derogation on types of catch crops that allows the planting of a winter catch crop, provided that it is an herbaceous species, and a derogation on the period of intercropping in order to reduce its duration so as not to impact on the planting of a winter crop.
The Commission says it will agree to extend to other EU countries the derogation already granted to eight member states on 14 August concerning implementation of payment conditions for greening for 2018 request years. This measure aims to maximise the availability of fodder. These derogations will all have retroactive effect for 2018.
Until the derogations for livestock farming to come into force (around mid-September), the Commission feels that member states may use exceptional measures aiming to not impose administrative sanctions on the grounds of force majeure. France, for example, has already started to use this possibility in a number of départements.
In addition, the member states may also use other available measures: an advance on direct payments and rural development measures, changes to national rural development programmes and use of state aid. Finally, the Commission has asked the member states to inform it of their farming situation after the drought, so that it can assess the need to take new measures for farmers, if required (market or rural development measures). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)