EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said on Monday 30 January that he would propose activating part or all of the agricultural crisis reserve (€450 million in total) to compensate farmers in Ukraine’s EU neighbours who are suffering from some of the effects of the war.
At the Agriculture Council, Poland, supported by several countries (https://aeur.eu/f/539 ), raised the issue of the impact of increased agricultural imports from Ukraine on local markets and called for compensation for farmers affected by the increased influx of products from Ukraine.
Mr Wojciechowski admitted that some Member States were against mobilising the crisis reserve. However, he said, “farmers in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries, such as Bulgaria and Romania, have sufficiently acute problems justifying mobilising the reserve”.
However, no country has indicated that trade with Ukraine should be restricted or that Ukrainian imports should be stopped, Janusz Wojciechowski said. He acknowledged the sensitive issue of Ukrainian poultry imports. “We have gone from 90,000 to 263,000 tonnes of imports. So the poultry industry in the EU has expressed concerns.” The Commissioner said he would ensure that the farmers in question “receive aid or compensation for storing surplus products”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)