At the Agriculture Council in Brussels on Monday 21 February, the European Commission called on Spain and Portugal, which are experiencing severe problems with droughts, to “make the most” of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plans from 1 January 2023 to “deal with water management challenges” and strengthen risk management measures.
The Spanish and Portuguese Agriculture Ministers have asked the Commission to activate emergency measures to support their farmers affected by the drought.
Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture, recalled the measures available under the CAP in addition to the future strategic plans, such as supporting farmers’ participation in risk management tools, supporting harvest insurance and providing financial support for the wine sector.
What can the Commission do to help in the short term? The Commission is in contact with the national and regional authorities in Spain and Portugal to see what support the CAP can provide to deal with this natural disaster. “We are exploring how direct payments, particularly Decoupled Income Support and Sectorial Voluntary Coupled Support, can help along with measures under Rural Development Programmes,” the Commissioner said. State aid is another possibility. “If conditions are met”, the EU Solidarity Fund can also be activated at the request of the affected country.
Regarding the other measures requested (https://aeur.eu/f/et ), the force majeure provision (derogations from the practice of crop diversification) can be used in all cases in line with the regulations and the interpretations of the Commissioner’s services, and “I am not in favour of the request of a new measure under Rural Development equivalent to the one we had for Covid”, concluded Wojciechowski. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)