The EU Agriculture Ministers called, on Wednesday 2 March, for the adoption of market measures and measures to release agricultural production potential in order to avoid excessive disruption of agricultural markets as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (see EUROPE 12901/8).
Julien Denormandie, President-in-Office of the Agriculture Council, began by mentioning the “solidarity” shown by the ministers towards “our Ukrainian partners”. The French Minister underlined the ministers’ wish to increase the food aid “that can be given to our Ukrainian friends”.
“It will be necessary to ensure this food aid and Europe’s feeding mission so that crops are at a sufficient level to meet European and world food demand”, he told the press.
Short and medium term measures. Mr Denormandie drew three conclusions from the debate of the Ministers of Agriculture by video conference:
- expert groups should work on the support that can be provided (experts in the framework of the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism and the High Level Groups in the pig and poultry sectors);
- the European Commission is working on the implementation of “exceptional market measures to be finalised”;
- everything should be done to “free up agricultural production potential” already in the current season (e.g. proteins for livestock feed).
As such, several EU countries have requested the use of set-aside land for protein production. The Commission still needs to discuss it internally before making proposals, said Mr Denormandie.
According to the French Minister, the Agriculture Council on 21 March will be able to finalise a number of decisions.
In the meantime, the three measures mentioned are expected to be discussed at the next Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 7 March. The aim is to “take decisions quickly”, said Mr Denormandie.
International bodies will also be mobilised, said the French minister, who cited the AMIS (Agricultural Market Information System), the G7, the G20 and the FAO.
Finally, Mr Denormandie summarised, the ministers insisted on the need to “establish European agri-food sovereignty”. The Commission has indicated that it will assess the strategies (‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘Biodiversity’) “in the light of this political objective to increase food sovereignty”, the minister continued.
Janusz Wojciechowski, the Commissioner for Agriculture, said he would look into possible market measures, such as private storage (especially for pigmeat) and “the crisis reserve is also a possibility”. Strategies cannot be left aside, but “if the objectives are undermined, if we have to rectify the situation, we will do so”, he assured.
The debate between ministers highlighted the need to provide food aid to Ukraine, which, according to Mr Denormandie, will be examined in cooperation with the Foreign Affairs Council.
With regard to the market situation in the EU, the ministers mentioned the following problems, some of which already existed before the Russian war: - the difficulties to be expected with regard to the import of animal feed (especially maize); - concerns about the export of pork (and poultry); - difficulties in importing fertiliser and gas to produce fertiliser (and the impact on food security); - the need for the Commission to play an active role in international fora to mitigate the crisis.
Several Member States have requested market measures, including the agricultural crisis reserve, Articles 219 and 222 of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation or State aid.
Some countries have asked for more flexibility in the rules for hiring seasonal workers (as many come from Ukraine).
Several ministers claimed that the strategic plans of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be adapted to take into account the current situation.
Africa and the Middle East. Ministers from several countries (Spain, Germany) mentioned the risk of shortages affecting countries in Africa or the Middle East, which are heavily dependent on Russian and Ukrainian grain.
MEP Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA) also said that countries in East Africa and the Middle East are even more at risk of grain shortages than EU countries. “Europe must help, but also rethink its own feed consumption”, he advised.
Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, which are highly dependent on supplies from Russia and Ukraine, fear shortages of grain following delivery stoppages and rising prices.
“Contingency plans”. The COCERAL, FEDIOL and FEFAC organisations stated that they consider it essential to “address immediate practical issues for the vessels arriving in Europe from Ukraine and to anticipate potential adverse impacts on the food and feed supply chains”. These organisations stress the urgent need to set up “contingency plans” that will help mitigate the loss of ‘Black Sea origin’ for these commodities.
The Black Sea region represents an important supply of grain and oilseed products for the world market. Ukraine exports 60 million tonnes of grain to the world.
For the current marketing year, Ukraine was expected to export about 33 million tonnes of corn and 24 million tonnes of wheat. For Europe, maize is the main product imported from Ukraine (11 million tonnes per year).
Link to the document (in French) of the French Presidency of the EU Council for the discussion of the Agriculture Ministers: https://aeur.eu/f/ki (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)