Several MEPs on the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, on Monday 6 July, called for aid for the struggling veal and poultry sectors due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis. But the Commission, which has already activated private storage aid for beef, has no plans to extend the measure to veal and poultry.
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development discussed the situation in the beef, veal and poultry sectors, which are particularly affected by the restrictions due to Covid-19.
Storage aid. Anne Sander (EPP, France) asked for support for the veal and poultry sectors. The crisis is serious in the veal sector. Would it therefore be possible, Mrs Sander asked, to use some of the storage aid which exists for beef for this meat? In fact storage aid for beef is little used (3,000 tonnes at this stage), the Commission acknowledged.
For poultry, Mrs Sander suggested, in addition to storage aid, “intervention on tariff quotas to strengthen our outlets on the internal market”.
The Commission representative explained that the institution did not want to introduce private storage aid for veal and poultry. The representative also recalled that there is “little enthusiasm” in the EU Council to mobilise the reserve for agricultural crises and thus release additional funds.
Imports. Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany) raised the issue of imported meat, which does not meet the same requirements as the EU. She suggested that meat imported from non-Member States should be accompanied by a compulsory indication of origin, as is the case for honey.
“Our standards are very strict”, the Commission said, with regard to imports. In addition, the EU has a “surplus” in beef, veal and poultry and beef imports have fallen. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)