The EU Ministers of Agriculture will discuss, on Tuesday 24 May, the situation of agricultural markets and food security in the context of the war in Ukraine triggered by Russia.
Marc Fesneau, the new French Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, will chair this EU Council, which will also discuss, in particular, the negotiations for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, which will focus on food safety, and the vaccination strategy against highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The European Commission will be represented by the Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.
Food Security. The Commission will present its initiatives on the development of EU-Ukraine solidarity lanes to overcome the Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and to ensure that Ukraine can export its agricultural products by land to EU and world markets.
The ministers will also take stock of the situation of agricultural markets, which have been disrupted by the effects of the war. A document (https://aeur.eu/f/1ry ) collecting preliminary remarks from several Member States shows that the livestock (especially pig and dairy) and fruit and vegetable sectors are currently suffering the most.
The European Commission accepted a request from several EU countries when it presented a proposal on 20 May for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) to allow Member States to pay a one-off lump sum to farmers and agri-food businesses affected by significant increases in input costs (see EUROPE 12957/12).
Highly pathogenic avian influenza. Ministers are expected to adopt conclusions on vaccination as a complementary tool against current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) prevention and control measures. The text calls for the launch of a European vaccination plan to complement existing prevention and control measures. However, it points out that vaccination can be an obstacle to poultry exports and therefore calls on the Commission to engage in a dialogue on these issues with the EU’s trading partners.
The current epizootic is the most severe in recent European history. Avian influenza can also pose a risk to public health as these viruses are potentially transmissible to humans.
WTO. Ministers will be briefed on the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which will take place from 12 to 15 June in Geneva. They will have the opportunity to propose political orientations to the Commission in view of the ministerial meeting. For the Commission, the objective is to avoid export restrictions on food products, to ensure compliance with WTO rules and better transparency on stocks, and to exempt the World Food Programme from any trade restrictions.
Multiple ‘miscellaneous items’. The French Presidency will inform ministers about an event on epidemiosurveillance platforms that took place in March.
The Cypriot delegation will advocate for a new EU legislative framework for a positive EU list on the keeping of companion animals (https://aeur.eu/f/1rx ). The trade in exotic companion animals is one of the main threats to the survival of many species. Several EU countries have adopted a Positive List of a limited number of animal species that can be kept by private individuals as pets, but differences remain between Member States. An EU-wide Positive List would increase the level of protection by making a significant contribution to halting biodiversity loss, safeguarding animal welfare and protecting public health and safety.
Spain will defend the implementation of effective protection systems for phytosanitary controls on imports into the EU.
The Slovak delegation will inform the ministers about the workshop ‘Dialogue on the future of soil protection in the EU and its potential to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the European Green Deal’, which took place in Brussels on 27 April.
Germany will call for a reduction in the use of peat in the horticultural sector, in order to contribute to the fight against climate change (https://aeur.eu/f/1rw ).
Belgium will refer to the very unfavourable weather conditions it faced this spring (https://aeur.eu/f/1rv ).
The Romanian delegation will share information on the effects of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine on the implementation of national rural development programmes (https://aeur.eu/f/1ru ).
The cost of building materials has risen considerably, along with the price of fuel, natural gas and electricity. Labour costs as well as equipment and other machinery have also increased. In this context, many beneficiaries of the national rural development programme are no longer able to continue the implementation of ongoing projects, as the approved budget for 2014-2020 no longer covers the high additional costs caused by the substantial price increase. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)