On Monday 16 November, the Agriculture Ministers of several EU countries called for the adoption of measures to help the pig meat sector, which has been affected by the effects of the coronavirus crisis and the outbreaks of African swine fever.
By videoconference, the Ministers had an exchange of views on the agricultural market situation. The Commission has drawn up a document on the market situation (https://bit.ly/2Iwjht1 ), supplemented by requests from EU countries (https://bit.ly/38J8Tcf ).
Several delegations (Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium, Denmark, Croatia...) referred to the difficulties faced by pig meat producers and asked for measures (private storage). The Commission said it would continue to assess the situation and that the sector could be included in the strategic plans in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Spain and Greece asked for an extension of the support measures for the wine sector and some countries (France, Ireland, Netherlands) brought up the beef and veal sector.
At the request of Austria, Ministers discussed environmental concerns arising from the EU/Mercosur free trade agreement. The Commission has indicated that it will publish an impact study on the effects of this agreement on agriculture soon. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)