The European Commission is proposing to grant Italy €27 million to compensate the poultry sector for the consequences of avian flu outbreaks.
A draft Commission implementing act to this effect recalls that Italy had recorded almost 300 outbreaks of avian influenza by the end of 2021.
To support the poultry sector, Rome has been asking since May 2022 for emergency measures co-financed by the European Union, on the basis of Article 220 of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) Regulation.
In this draft text, the Commission agrees to co-finance up to 50% of the expenditure incurred by Italy to support the egg and poultry meat markets, which were severely affected by the epidemic at the end of 2021, up to a maximum amount of €27.2 million. These funds would be taken from the agricultural crisis reserve envelope, which has already been mobilised for three EU countries bordering Ukraine (see EUROPE 13145/11). The European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, announced on Monday 20 March a proposal to grant €56.3 million to Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.
The texts on the mobilisation of the crisis reserve for these four countries (therefore including Italy) will be voted on 30 March by the EU countries meeting in the CMO committee. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)