95% of the total envelope of the European programme providing low-interest loans for young farmers has been spent, the project initiators, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) said on 11 December.
A European programme to finance up to €1 billion in low-interest loans for young farmers was launched on Monday 29 April (see EUROPE 12244/8).
At the beginning of December 2019, 95% of the financing was approved for low-interest loans in Italy (€350 million signed with four banks), France (€375 million signed with two banks) and Greece (€200 million for two banks). One more operation is in the pipeline, namely an intermediated loan of €20 million in Croatia.
The EIB is planning to step up this type of financing for young farmers, possibly blending it with EU structural funds, in line with its joint 'Young Farmers' initiative with DG AGRI. “Given the high interest for this initiative, we are considering launching another agriculture programme loan working in close collaboration with the European Commission”, said Andrew McDowell, EIB Vice-President responsible for agriculture and bioeconomy.
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said: “Supporting the investment of young farmers is critical to make farming more competitive, more innovative and environment- friendly. Investments will be instrumental to the effective contribution of agriculture to the EU Green Deal”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)