EU organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) asked the European Commission on Tuesday 7 April to take urgent action to support several agricultural sectors affected by the consequences of the coronavirus crisis.
Copa-Cogeca has collected data from its members showing the impact of the crisis on the milk and dairy, cattle, sheep and goat sectors.
Several letters have been sent to the Commission requesting that specific measures (exceptional measures, private storage, tariff quotas, etc.) be implemented and financed outside the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget, says Copa-Cogeca.
Pekka Pesonen, Secretary-General of Copa-Cogeca, lamented that no decision on aid to the agricultural sector had been taken at the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on 6 April. “The sector is currently facing unprecedented circumstances caused by factors beyond agriculture. While we recognise the European Commission's and Member States’ efforts to ensure that the internal market functions smoothly, we reiterate the need for additional targeted market measures for the livestock sector, including exceptional measures, financed outside of the CAP budget”, he said.
The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, will have an exchange of views on 15 April with members of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee to discuss responses to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Ministries of Agriculture of five countries (Latvia, Finland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Portugal) have asked the Commission, due to the crisis, to temporarily suspend certain requirements for the greening of direct aids and certain bans affecting phytosanitary products.
The Commission “will provide answers” to these questions, commented a spokesman for the institution who recalled the measures taken so far (advances on direct payments, see EUROPE 12463/9).
To read Mr. Wojciechowski's letter : https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/letter-eu-agriculture-ministers-commissioner-wojciechowski-rural-development-and-covid-19-outbreak-2020-apr-08_en (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)